“Home for [Ramush] Haradinaj is a plateau called Dukagjin, in extreme western Kosovo, along the mountains of northern Albania, to which culturally it is very similar. It contains perhaps a hundred villages and a few large towns, along with a few - now very few - communities of Serbs. The Albanians are divided into clans and closely knit farming families, among whom the Haradinajs have long stood out. These rural families have never fully submitted to the powers that have claimed the region over time - most recently the Communists, the nationalist Serbs, and the technocrats of the United Nations. Instead, they have largely governed themselves by homegrown rules - a code known as the Kanun, which emphasizes the sanctity of land, blood, and honor. The Kanun serves as a constructive guide to village life, spelling out public and private responsibilities, and, for most infractions, specifying sanctions that are mild. In the case of violent crimes, however, it contains a curious twist: dishonor is believed to lie not with the perpetrator of the crime but with the victim - and indeed with the victim’s entire family. It is said that the family’s blood has been stolen. The family must then reclaim its blood by committing an equal act of violence against any male member of the original perpetrator’s family. This is known in the Kanun as the principle of blood for blood. Given the asymmetries and misinterpretations that inevitably occur, it has led to multi-generational feuds, and vendettas that blossom out of control.”

- William Langewiesche, “House of War,” Vanity Fair December 2008