The First three of the following essays were written in 1996, when, unbeknownst to many of us who promoted it, ZTN was coming to the end of its active life as a transborder communications medium for antiwar an humanitarian groups. The last essay brings the story up to date (Feb 1999), and describes the forces that led to the demise of the network.

Our story is perhaps incomplete, and we would be grateful to hear from anyone who has material to add, or who can point out material that should be revised.  -- Ivo Skoric and Ed Agro.

by Ivo Skoric  (16 Feb. 1996)

By now everybody is aware that there is a war going on in what was once known as Yugoslavia: a particularly nasty war with eye-gouging and mass rapes, something one'd not expect to happen at the end of twentieth century, not in Europe. Not because it is Europe, but because it is the second time for Europe in just fifty years...

by Ivo Skoric  (16 Feb. 1996)

Enter the Internet. Early in 1991, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) proposed a "Trust Link" between the conflicting sides in ex-Yugoslav war. When the anti-war and human rights groups of former Yugoslavia began to organise, they had found it impossible to coordinate their activities due to immense communication difficulties. In October, several peace groups (War Resisters International - WRI, International Forum On Reconciliation -IFOR, etc...) from countries that still had good telephone connections to both Zagreb and Belgrade agreed to relay FAXes received from one peace group on to the other group across the militrarized border...

by Ivo Skoric  (16 Feb. 1996)

The Sarajevo On-Line event happened in the physical space of Studio 99 in Sarajevo, which became a cybe-cafe. On April 5, 1995, the inhabitants of Sarajevo began their fourth year under siege...

Supplementary material: Sampling of postings carried over Sarajevo On-Line

by Ed Agro  (26 Feb. 1999)

All good things come to an end...