Srđa Trifković

Srđa Trifković (also Srdja Trifković; Serbian Cyrillic: Срђа Трифковић and as author Serge Trifkovic) (born July 19, 1954, in Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian writer on international affairs and foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles. He was director of the Center for International Affairs at the Rockford Institute until his resignation on December 31, 2008.^[1] Trifković was also an unofficial spokesman for the Republika Srpska government in the 1990s.^[2]

Trifković is the author of Sword of the Prophet, a book on the history and doctrines of Islam. A former consultant to the President of Serbia Vojislav Koštunica and adviser to Republika Srpska President and subsequently convicted war criminal Biljana Plavšić, he comments on Balkan politics^[3] and is a regular columnist for several conservative publications in the United States.^[4]

Biography

Trifković earned a BA (Hon) in international relations from the University of Sussex in 1977 and another, in political science, from the University of Zagreb in 1987. Since 1990 he has held a Ph.D in modern history from the University of Southampton, UK, and in 1991-1992 he pursued post-doctoral research on a Title VIII grant^[5] from the U.S. Department of State as a Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution in California.^[6]

Beginning in 1980, Trifković has been a radio broadcaster for BBC World Service and Voice of America and later a correspondent covering southeast Europe for U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Times during which time he was an editor for the Belgrade magazine Duga.

In 1994–95 he acted as an "unofficial spokesman" for the Bosnian Serb government (while preferring to describe himself as a "Balkan affairs analyst with close links to the Bosnian Serbs").^[7][8] Trifković has published op-eds and commentaries in The Times^[9] of London,^[10] the San Francisco Chronicle, the American Conservative^[11], the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Alternative Right.^[12] He has also been a commentator on numerous national and international TV and radio programs, including the Oliver North Show on (MSNBC), CNN,^[13] CNN International, SKY News,^[14] BBC Radio 4,^[15] BBC World Service^[16] and CBC.^[17] He has contributed to Liberty, the newspaper of the Serbian National Defense Council of America.^[18]

Trifković has been an adjunct professor at the University of St Thomas in Houston, TX (1996–1997), and in August 1997 he joined the faculty of the short-lived Rose Hill College in Aiken, SC.

Trifković has worked as a political consultant to Aleksandar Karađorđević, Crown Prince of Serbia, and to Former Yugoslav President Vojislav Koštunica, as an adviser to Biljana Plavšić^[19] and as representative of the Republika Srpska in London.^[8]

In February 2000 Trifković testified to the Canadian House of Commons on the situation in the Balkans.^[20] In July 2000 he took part in a Congressional briefing^[21] organized by Rep. Kucinich. In March 2003 he testified as an expert witness for the defense before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In September 2008 he testified again before the ICTY, this time as a material witness for the defence of Ljubisa Beara in the Popovic et el. trial.^[8]

In June 2006 he was one of twenty four people who presented works at a symposium on the Holocaust in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945, co-organized by two Serbian institutions and held at Yad Vashem Center in Jerusalem.^[22]

Writings on Islam

Trifković is the author of Sword of the Prophet: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam, a book about the history and tenets of Islam which identifies the rise of Islamic fundamentalism as the greatest danger to "Western" values since the end of the Cold War. According to James Bissett, former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia and a close associate of Trifković, Trifković sees the source of this threat in the absence of separation of church and state under Islam - because Islam is a way of life, Muslims are required to subordinate themselves to the teachings of Allah and live as members of the total Islamic community, calling into question their ability to give their political loyalty to a non-Muslim state. Trifković considers this to be a particularly important issue for the countries of Western Europe, with a population of over 20 million Muslims, and the United States (3 to 5 million).^[23]

Trifković's fellow conservative commentator on Islam Robert Shepherd has described himself and Trifković as sharing the fundamental thesis that "Islam is inherently aggressive, racist, violent, and intolerant".^[24]

Refusal of admission to Canada

In February of 2011, Canadian authorities refused to allow Srđa Trifković to enter Canada to address a meeting at the University of British Columbia at Vancouver.^[25][26]

Trifković reported in the journal Chronicles that he was refused entry to Canada on 24 February 2011 on the "transparently spurious" grounds that he was "inadmissible on grounds of violating human or international rights for being a proscribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6 (3) to (5) of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act."^[25]

He believed that his "inadmissibility" was due to contacts with the Bosnian Serb leaders in the early nineties but claimed that the Canadian authorities' grounds for refusing him admission were "transparently spurious" and they had in fact yielded to a Bosniak-inspired campaign against him.^[25] The Canadian Institute for the Research of Genocide had complained that Trifković was promoting hatred, antisemitism and islamophobia and accused him of publicly denying what New American termed the "alleged" massacre of Bosniaks at Srebrenica in July 1995, found by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to be a crime of genocide.^[27][26]

The John Birch Society's New American Magazine attributed the decision to refuse Trifković entry to his criticism of Islam and "jihadists", his argument that American policymakers should treat Islam as a hostile political ideology instead of as a religion, and his call to halt Muslim immigration to the West.^[26]

New American cited Trifković's views as an author of books on Islam: "[W]e need an absolute moratorium on the immigration of Muslims into both Western Europe and North America, coupled with the denial of citizenship to all practicing Muslims, the denial of security clearances, and the policy of systematic deportation of all jihadists(sic) activists. ... Islam ought to be regarded as a violent political ideology rather than just a religious cult."^[26]

Trifković's controversial views concerning the Jewish intellectual tradition were deplored by Robert Spencer, a fellow critic of Islam who argued that Trifković should not have been denied admission to Canada "for politically incorrect opinions".^[28]

Trifković is currently active within the 'Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies' in holding lectures that deny the existence of the Srebrenica genocide.

Books

Trifković has written four books:

• Ustasa: Croatian separatism and European politics, 1929-1945, London (1998) ISBN 18-92-47800-5^[29]
• The Sword of the Prophet: The politically incorrect guide to Islam: History, Theology, Impact on the World, Boston, Regina Orthodox Press (2002) ISBN 19-28-65311-1
• Defeating Jihad: How the War on Terrorism May Yet Be Won, In Spite of Ourselves, Regina Orthodox Press (2006).
• The Krajina Chronicle: A History of Serbs in Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, The Lord Byron Foundation, 2010.^[30]

The Sword of the Prophet received praise from conservative critics. It was described as an "exceptionally fluid argument against militant Islam... Powerful stuff powerfully presented" by Ray Olson in Booklist.^[31]

In 2003 Trifković was accused by Stephen Schwartz of being a supporter of Slobodan Milošević, although he was a signatory to a letter of protest against Milošević in 1996 and has condemned Milošević in numerous publications.^[32] Trifković received a formal apology from the publisher of Schwartz's article.^[33]

Filmography

• The Weight of Chains
• Islam: What the West Needs to Know

References

1. ^ "CFIA Leadership". Rockford Institute. 2007-05-03. http://www.rockfordinstitute.org/?page_id=16. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
2. ^ Mixed views on Balkans pair, BBC News, 5 July 2001.
3. ^ "After Kostunica: Is Democracy Possible in the Balkans?". Stanford Serbian Student Society. http://www.stanford.edu/group/4s/page8.html. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
4. ^ "FrontPageMag Columnist: Serge Trifkovic". FrontPage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/authors.asp?ID=1024. Retrieved 2009-05-17. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Title VIII Grant Program. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
6. ^ THE YUGOSLAV CRISIS AND THE UNITED STATES: HOW TO UNDERSTAND IT, WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
7. ^ Mixed views on Balkans pair By Richard Miron. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
8. ^ ^{a b c} International Criminal trial for the Former Yugoslavia, Case number IT-05-88-T, The Prosecutor versus Vujadin Popovic, et al., Transcript of hearing on 4 September 2008, accessed 26 February 2011
9. ^ [1]
10. ^ [2]
11. ^ The American Conservative. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
12. ^ Alternative Right, "Srdja Trifkovic," (retrieved on May 27th, 2011).
13. ^ Yugoslav Elections: Interview With Dr. Srdja Trifkovic. Retrieved 2010-01-05.^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Trifkovic's response to Ganic-BBC - soc.culture.yugoslavia | Google Groups
15. ^ TRIFKOVIC'S BBC RADIO 4 INTERVIEW. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
16. ^ TIME TO REDEFINE UN MISSION. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
17. ^ AIR STRIKES ENDANGER U.N. TROOPS ON THE GROUND. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
18. ^ Slobodan Milosevic and his legacy. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
19. ^ "Apology and Correction", by Serge Trifkovic, FrontPageMagazine.com 15 January 2003, accessed 29 May 2011
20. ^ GEO-POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
21. ^ Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
22. ^ Dead link as of 27 February 2011
23. ^ "Introduction to The Sword of the Prophet" by James Bissett, publisher's summary of reviews at Regina Orthodox Press website, accessed 31 May 2011
24. ^ "Serge Trifkpovic catches out Dinesh d'Souza", by Robert Shepherd, Jihadwatch.org, 6 March 2007, accessed 31 May 2011
25. ^ ^{a b c} "Banned from Canadistan" by Srdja Trifkovic, Chronicles Magazine, February 25th, 2011, accessed 10 March 2011
26. ^ ^{a b c d} "Canada Ejects Serbian-American Scholar, Stops Speech At University" by R. Cort Kirkwood, New American, 01 March 2011, accessed 10 March 2011
27. ^ CTV News clip
28. ^ "Srdja Trifkovic, author of Sword of the Prophet, barred from Canada" by Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, 25 February 2011, accessed 10 March 2011
29. ^ The South Slav Journal, Vol. 21, No. 3-4 (2000). Retrieved 2010-01-05.
30. ^ [3]
31. ^ Olson, Ray. Booklist (American Library Association) 99 (3): 292. 
32. ^ copy of 1996 letter protesting Milošević. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
33. ^ Trifković, Serge (2003-01-15). "Apology and Correction". FrontPage Magazine. http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5547. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 

External links

• Excerpts and Content of "The Sword of the Prophet"

Persondata
Name	Trifkovic, Srđa
Alternative names	Trifković, Srdja; Trifkovic, Serge
Short description	writer and political consultant
Date of birth	1954-07-19
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death