BOOK BY IVO BANAC PRESENTED IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Jan 25 (Hina) - A book by Ivo Banac, "Protiv mocvare" (unofficial translation "Against the Swamp"), a collection of Banac's political articles, published between 1994 and 2002 mostly in Split's "Feral Tribune" weekly, was presented in Zagreb on Friday evening. #L# The latest book of this professor of history at Yale University was published this year by Sarajevo's "BuyBook", and its presentation was organised by the institute "Vlado Gotovac" and the International Forum "Bosna" from Sarajevo. Viktor Ivancic, a journalist and editor in "Feral Tribune", said Banac's book was an example of how even the shortest news forms could yield in-depth analyses of problems, such as political problems, which he said was what Banac was best at. Jelena Lovric, a political commentator for Rijeka's Novi List daily, said it was logical that the book had been published in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was the central topic of the book. The relationship towards Bosnia is the central problem of Croatia's foreign and internal policies, although today this might seem disputable and exaggerated, Lovric said. The true nature of Tudjman's regime and his ethnic concepts were revealed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lovric said, adding that the new authorities had failed to initiate the process of analysis of Croatia's role in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Banac's book points to the need to constantly re-examine Croatia's policy towards Bosnia, she added. Banac associates the term "swamp" with "the segment of the political scene which programmes retrogressive ideas" and which has both its "'right' and 'left' version". The book was also commented on by Bosnian writer Ivan Lovrenovic, Sarajevo publicist Zarko Papic and the president of the International Forum "Bosna", Rusmir Mahmutcehajic. (hina) rml