‘It is Krajina all over again’: geopolitics of spite and geographical analogy in a Serbian newspaper audience

Figures & data

Table 1. Data collected and analysed from Politika articles on the Russo-Georgian War and Crimean crisis.

	Articles total	Comments total	Articles with 50+ comments	Comments fewer than 50+ articles	Comments added by random selection	Analysed comments in total
August 2008	92	1692	9	620	100	720
March 2014	156	4163	20	1460	100	1560
Total	248	5855	29	2080	200	2280

Table 2. Geopolitical issues, solutions and emotions in commenters’ debates on the Russo-Georgian war (2008) and Crimean crisis (2014).

Discursive dimensions	2008 (set A)	2014 (set B)
1. Problem	Geopolitical marginalization of Serbia	Geopolitical marginalization of Serbia
	World domination by US/EU and NATO	World domination by US/EU and NATO
2. Causes	Great power games over domination of small nations	Great power games over domination of small nations
	Great power rivalry over resources (Caucasian oil and gas)	Great power rivalry (military and strategic: Black Sea)
	Lack of realist geopolitical thinking by Serbian politicians
	Disregard for Serbia’s history, lack of historical knowledge in the population	Disregard for Serbia’s history, lack of historical knowledge in the population
	Actions of the US and the ‘West’	Actions of the EU and the ‘West’
3. Proposed solutions	Turning away from the West	Turning away from the West
	Associating with Russia	Associating with Russia
	Dissemination of geopolitical knowledge	Dissemination of geopolitical knowledge
	Associating with other small Orthodox nations (Ossetia, Abkhazia, ‘exotic brotherhoods’)	Serbian–Russian alliance (brotherhood)
4. Emotions	Rejoicing in Western ‘defeat’ against Russia (spite)	Rejoicing in Western ‘defeat’ against Russia (spite)
	Sadness, resignation	Joy, happiness
	Disgust over Western geopolitical machinations	Hope the world became multipolar finally
5. Values	Orthodoxy, pursuing peace internationally, nation	Orthodoxy, nation
6. Competing knowledges	Bandwagoning with Russia versus ‘doing nothing’ or complying with Western expectations and values	Bandwagoning with Russia versus complying with Western expectations and values
	Russia’s ‘double standards’ on Kosovo versus Ossetia, Abkhazia – how safe is it for Serbia to bandwagon?	Russia’s ‘double standards’ – issue solved, ‘double standards’ claims largely dismissed