I haven't finished Warriors yet, but I did do some research on that period. Apparently, after Tito (one of the Jackson 5) died and after the breakup of the Soviet Union (good riddance), Yugoslavia as a nation broke apart. Part of that breakup was the state of Bosnia-Herzocantspellit which has three distinct ethnic groups - the Serbs (Bosnia is right next to Serbia) who are Eastern Orthodox Christian, The Croats (Bosnia is right next to Croatia, as well) who are Catholic, and the Muslims (Slavs whose ancestors converted during the Ottoman Empire).

Slobodan Miloshevich, Serbia's ruler, didn't give much truck to the idea of Bosnian independence, instead preferring they stay attached to Serbia, despite the fact that the Serbs are a minority there. He whipped up a lot of nationalistic attitudes in Bosnia. That, plus a better army and plenty of warped press, incited the bloodbath that was Bosnia in the early 1990s. The United Nations stepped in in 1992 only to keep the populace fed.

What is really sad is these three groups, plus the requisite put-upon Jews and Gypsies, had lived in peaceful coexistence for 500 years (barring the happy time everyone had during WWII). These people aren't tribal types; Yugoslavia was an advanced European nation (despite the commie rule). What brought them to such awful destruction was ignorance, a controlled flow of news, and a petty tyrant.

Deciding to interfere or not when Hell breaks out is tough. When shite hits the fan its always the ordinary men, women, and children who suffer. Those who have any type of power thrive in appalling circumstances. My knee-jerk reaction is hell yes, go in there and make them stop hurting each other! But then what? If you get involved in a fight you will be beaten up as well. I'm not a student of history (the fact that I was predominantly ignorant of the problems in the Balkans until I saw a movie with a pretty face or two in it proves that), but it always seems to boil down to if you get involved you have to stomp pretty hard. Ordinary men, women, and children suffer. How can you insure that things won't get back to the normal business of killing if you leave? Hate is a mighty powerful emotion and you can't make people stop hating each other by getting in their way.