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171. War Criminals in Bosnia's Republika Srpska: Who are the People in Your Neighbourhood?

Publication Date:
11-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Five years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Accords, which brought an end to almost four years of bloody war in Bosnia, many of those believed to have carried out some of the war's worst atrocities remain at large. The continued presence in the municipalities of Republika Srpska (RS) of individuals suspected of war crimes—some indicated either publicly or secretly by the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)—represents a significant obstacle to the return of ethnic minority refugees. It also undermines seriously Bosnia's chances for building central institutions, generating self-sustainable economic growth, and achieving the political transformation necessary to begin the process of integration with the rest of Europe. Moreover, the continued commitment of most war crimes suspects to the goal of a Greater Serbia, and their willingness to use violence to achieve it, could—in the long term—provoke renewed conflict in Bosnia and continued instability in the Balkans.
Topic:
Security, Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Balkans

172. Blunder in the Balkans: The Clinton Administration's Bungled War against Serbia

Author:
Christopher Layne
Publication Date:
05-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Clinton administration has made one miscalculation after another in dealing with the Kosovo crisis. U.S. officials and their NATO colleagues never understood the historical and emotional importance of Kosovo to the Serbia n people, believing instead that Belgrade's harsh repression of the ethnic Albanian secessionist movement in Kosovo merely reflected the will of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia. The administration's foreign policy team mistakenly concluded that, under a threat of air strikes, the Yugoslav government would sign a dictate d peace accord (the Rambouillet agreement) to be implemented by a NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Even if Milosevic initially refused to sign the Rambouillet agreement, administration leaders believed that Belgrade would relent after a brief “demonstration” bombing campaign. Those calculations proved to be disastrously wrong.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Balkans, and Albania

173. Independent Task Force Report: Reconstructing the Balkans

Author:
Charles A. Kupchan, Morton I. Abramowitz, and Albert Fishlow
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The last of the six Balkan Wars of the twentieth century is over. But it is by no means certain that a durable peace is at hand. After vast death, destruction, and savagery lasting almost a decade can the peoples of the former Yugoslavia live together again in peace? If so, the region will require sustained help and support from the West. The United States and its European partners are in the midst of mustering the necessary resources and political will. There are numerous uncertainties complicating efforts to proceed with the reconstruction of the area. Whatever the international community may proclaim, the borders of Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia could well change. The management of Kosovo's status and its relationship to Serbia is likely to produce serious tensions within the Alliance and between NATO and Russia. What politically will emerge from a beaten and traumatized Serbia no one can predict. Nor is it clear that Montenegro will remain as part of Yugoslavia, particularly if Milosevic continues to rule. An ethically fragile Macedonia has been badly weakened by the war and the inflow of three hundred thousand Kosovar deportees. Albania barely hangs together as a state. Neighboring Rumania and Bulgaria have avoided violence and begun to remake their societies, but they have suffered economically from the wars. The area of reconstruction is small and the population limited; the task at hand certainly is not of the dimensions of restoring post-war Europe. But the problems are daunting. Without security there will be no development. NATO forces will be needed indefinitely to keep the peace in Bosnia and Kosovo. Much more must be done to promote political and economic reform in the region, requiring vision and planning. The states of the region will first need urgent help to stabilize their economies and manage enormous humanitarian problems. They must also be able to envisage a better future, one that holds out the prospect of bringing them into Europe's political and economic mainstream. Realizing that goal will require profound changes in their economies and institutions as well as in their relationships with each other. Faced with these challenges, Western countries and a host of international institutions have begun to address how to foster the broad reconstruction of the area. The EU-sponsored stability pact, adopted in Cologne in June, is the beginning attempt at a multifaceted, coordinated approach to the problem. The G-8 has agreed on a broad program of financial assistance, and the EU has pledged 1.5 billion dollars for aid to Kosovo alone. Numerous follow-up conferences are already planned. Much more work has to be done to give reality and coherence to such efforts. Balkan reconstruction will be a protracted undertaking. It will require extremely difficult commodities – a comprehensive approach and the will, resources, and mechanisms to implement the effort. It is mostly to such a long term approach that this preliminary working paper addresses itself. It does not deal with the immediate requirements of refugee return and humanitarian assistance nor the urgent repair of human and material infrastructure. The World Bank and the IMF in cooperation with many other international organizations and interested countries are coordinating the assessment of needs and costs and have issued preliminary reports. The purpose of this working paper is to provide a broad political approach and to highlight the three key components of a comprehensive, long-term strategy: building security, integrating the region into the European Union, and fostering economic and political reform. For the purposes of this paper, we consider the region to be Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, and Rumania. This is somewhat arbitrary and these states are at different stages of political and economic development. The problems of Rumania and Bulgaria are quite different than Serbia's and Kosovo's; Croatia is much further advanced than next door Serbia and Bosnia. They all have to be dealt with separately, and no single state should hold back the progress of others in entering Europe. But they also face a collective future and the region will enjoy a lasting peace only if all its states leave the past behind and move decidedly to join the wider community.
Topic:
NATO, Ethnic Conflict, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, and World Bank
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Balkans, Macedonia, Albania, and Croatia

174. Remarks: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Author:
Madeleine Albright
Publication Date:
06-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Secretary Albright: Thank you very much, Les, that was very generous of you. Thank you. Good evening to all of you in this fantastic new setting—members of the Council on Foreign Relations and distinguished colleagues, friends and guests. NATO's confrontation with Belgrade over Kosovo has ended in accordance with the conditions the Alliance set. Now we face the even harder task of building a lasting peace there and throughout Southeast Europe. This evening, I would like to discuss with you this historic challenge.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe and Kosovo

175. Transcript: National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger

Author:
Samuel R. Berger and Charles Hagel
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
And I know we're all interested to hear from Sandy Berger, whom I will introduce in a moment. But I have been given some very specific instructions here, and I will make sure I fulfill my responsibilities. First, as many of you know, all of you who are members of this organization, most of these are off the record, but I think, as you can tell, this is not just the Sandy Berger Fan Club showing up with cameras. So this is very much on the record and wanted to remind you of that.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Ethnic Conflict, and Government
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

176. Developing a Methodology for Conflict Prevention: The Case of Estonia

Author:
Joyce Neu and Vamik Volkan
Publication Date:
12-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
In April 1994, with Russian troops still stationed in Estonia, The Carter Center's Conflict Resolution Program (CRP) joined with International Negotiation Network (INN) members Vamik Volkan of the University of Virginia's Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) and Harold Saunders of the Kettering Foundation to implement a set of workshops. The three-year series aimed to reduce tensions on two fronts: between Russia and Estonia and between Russians in Estonia and Estonians.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Eastern Europe, and Estonia

177. Border and Ethnic Disputes in Russia's Western Borderlands: Crises Averted and Postponed

Publication Date:
05-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The current crisis in and around Yugoslavia demonstrates the importance of ethnicity as a source of tension and armed conflict in post-Cold War Europe. Unsettled ethnic and border issues have been important characteristics of the European security environment after the collapse of the Soviet Union and have been the cause of much tension on the European continent.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Asia, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia

178. Ideas on Bosnia for the Bush Administration

Author:
Mark Edmond Clark
Publication Date:
04-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
Bosnia has been an international challenge that after five years may appear intractable. However, it too has a handle. In the new Bush Administration, policymakers and analysts must recognize that Bosnia is not a Western state, and that the country's bewildering social, economic, and political structures cannot be understood by viewing them through a Western prism. Only after these are examined and delineated can the new Administration get the business of rebuilding Bosnia underway guided by a policy more suited for its society and more coherent than that of the previous Administration.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe and Bosnia

179. Interview with Mark Edmond Clark

Author:
Sean Costigan and Mark Edmond Clark
Publication Date:
04-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
What are the short-term effects of the bombing campaign? While I was in Belgrade and Pristina in the beginning of March, the officials of the Yugoslav and Serbian Governments, with whom I spoke, made it clear that once the bombing campaign began, they would initiate a full blown counter-terrorist campaign in Kosovo. Efforts of the Yugoslav Army and Ministry of Interior forces would be directed against the KLA and its infrastructure. The campaign would be focused on the area that was part of the KLA's "Strategic Trapezoid" in the center of Kosovo, which the KLA had declared to be their area of strongest influence. They also informed me that they would strike at KLA positions in Albania and possibly Macedonia. This is precisely what those forces have been doing.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Europe

180. Rule Over Law: Obstacles to the Development of an Independent Judiciary in BIH

Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
ICG, with the support of the European Commission, has established a project to promote justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With the assistance of 8 partner organisations based all over BiH, ICG will monitor individual cases and general trends to highlight and promote the development of a judicial system in BiH up to the standards of a modern, European judiciary. This first, introductory report examines the factors preventing the development of an independent judiciary, and outlines steps necessary to promote judicial independence.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Government, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Eastern Europe