The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture
This years Hubert Butler lecture came courtesy of Misha Glenny, the British journalist and historian who has written at length about Sarajevo and the worst European war of the past half century.
As is customary for the Hubert Butler Lecture at this stage, St. Canice’s Cathedral was packed to capacity for Glenny’s talk. Introduced by Olivia O’Leary, Glenny acknowledged the influence of Hubert Butler on his own work and stated that he took his first trip to the Balkans with Butler’s writings under his arm. Glenny spoke passionately and intelligently about the fallout from a war that he claimed was not about only nationalism but ‘a state waging war against part of its citizenry’. He also spoke about the violent incidents of the past decade which he suggests indicates a residual conflict that might yet come to the fore in the Balkans.
The latter part of the talk focused on how the various Balkan states have functioned economically and what the effect of the current financial situation on Europe could have on them. It was an engaging and illuminating talk about the aftermath of a conflict that still lingers strong in the memory.
Concluding, Glenny focused on our current situation and stated ‘This is not a Balkan crisis. This is not a European crisis. This is a global crisis’.
