The Military-Poetic Complex 
Slavoj Žižek
Now that Radovan Karadzic has finally been arrested it is time to recall that Karadzic, a psychiatrist by profession, was not only a ruthless political and military leader, but a poet. His poetry should not be dismissed as ridiculous: it deserves a close reading, since it tells us something about the way ethnic cleansing works. Here are the first lines of an untitled poem, identified by its dedication, ‘For Izlet Sarajlic’:
Convert to my new faith crowd
I offer you what no one has had before
I offer you inclemency and wine
The one who won’t have bread will be fed by the light of my sun
People nothing is forbidden in my faith
There is loving and drinking
And looking at the Sun for as long as you want
And this godhead forbids you nothing
Oh obey my call brethren people crowd
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Slavoj Žižek is a dialectical-materialist philosopher and psychoanalyst. He also co-directs the International Centre for Humanities at Birkbeck College. His most recent book is In Defence of Lost Causes (Verso).
Other articles by this contributor:
Resistance Is Surrender · What to Do about Capitalism
Lenin Shot at Finland Station · Counterfactuality and the conservative historian
Don’t Just Do Something, Talk · the financial crisis
Use Your Illusions · Obama’s Victory and the Financial Meltdown
Attempts to Escape the Logic of Capitalism · Václav Havel
Knee-Deep · Leftist Platitudes
The Two Totalitarianisms · Stalin applauded too
Are we in a war? Do we have an enemy? · Love Thy Neighbour
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