Recall the infamous poster issued by KFOR, depicting a dog and a cat followed by the message: if they can do it - so can you. This stands as a pure example of interventionist racism par excellence.

When we were first in Reading, England last week, I thought I would brave the rain and walk to the city center. My wife's brother lives off of Bath Road and the plan was to follow that to Russell Street, take that down to Oxford Street and then, as some say, Bob's your uncle. Well, arriving at Oxford Street I went left when I should've went right. I walked for a mile before turning around and I am not sure I heard English but a handful of times. It was was largely Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and other languages of the European diaspora. I found that discovery remarkable in contrast to our last lengthy visit in 2004.

The Serbian elections are next week, I believe. The commercials for the canfidates always run sequentially, fair play I assume. I have not asked anyone about the platforms of the two men. I am guessing the one with glasses is a progressive as he affects Obama and appears to like wearing jeans at informal events. The other fellow growls.

The uniting aspect of these essays in welcome to the Desert is the notion of transition. These unruly nations must clear out their socialist baggage, forget about their messy wars and nationalism and start behaving like proper Europeans. This message from Brussels is hard and heavy, especially since the Western banks extended lines of credit just before the Great Recession. Unemployment is over 20 percent here. Prices have went up almost a third in the last three years. What can the future bring? Well, it brought refugees. Many Syrians and Iraqis are living in parks in downtown Belgrade, waiting for documentation to be processed. I think this is one a set of solutions for Serbia and Europe. There will be hush money of sorts, allowing the wretched of the earth to live here, just out of sight. Serbia will be rewarded for that patience, eventually. In the interim 10 people own 30 percent of the wealth here. Deindustrialization and a dismantling of the social safety net continue apace.

Maria Todorova is my new hero. It is fitting that the one essay devoted to feminism is the penultimate one. It remains isolated and understated.There are fascinating approaches to the Titostalgia and cult of the Yugo as well as towards Kosovo, which always appears to be interrupted in regional conversations. This is is a fascinating and invaluable text. ( )