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11. How We Succeeded In Kosovo

Author:
Wesley K. Clark
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
The countries of Southeast Europe contain numerous ethnic groups that are united by shared geography but divided by language, history, and culture. These nations are located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, and, for centuries, were subjected to Turkish invasion, Austro-Hungarian resistance, Russian Pan-Slavism, Venetian culture along the Adriatic coast, and the respective weights of Islam, Roman Catholicism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Melding these groups into the state of Yugoslavia at the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference proved only a temporary solution: with the death of Yugloslav President Josip Tito in 1980, the fractionating forces became dominant, and by 1991, Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia were each struggling to secede or survive against a Serb-dominated Serbia-Montenegro. Southeast Europe became a land of open warfare. In a small corner of Serbia stood a region known as Kosovo, ceded by the Ot- toman Empire to Serbia at the end of World War I. Roughly a square, 65 miles on a side and surrounded by high mountains on three sides, this fertile valley was the center of the nineteenth century Albanian National Awakening. The vast majority of its almost two million people were Albanian, with smaller numbers of Serbs, Roma, and Bosnians. Inside Serbia, Kosovo was designated as the autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Ethnic Conflict, History, and Humanitarian Intervention
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

12. An Evolving Legacy of Kosovo Intervention

Author:
Gorana Grgic
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
On 22 April 1999, British Prime Minister Tony Blair delivered a speech dubbed the “Doctrine of the International Community” in front of the Chi- cago Economic Club.1 He seized on the escalating ethnic conflict in Kosovo and advocated for the international community’s military intervention in cases of grave abuses of human rights. Blair referred to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) then month-old mission in Kosovo, Operation Allied Force, as “a just war, based not on any territorial ambitions but on values.”2 Dictators such as Serbian president Slobodan Milošević should be dealt with sooner rather than later, he argued, as appeasement has proven to be an inef- fective strategy over the course of the twentieth century. Twenty years on, the question many ask on every anniversary of the Operation Allied Force is: “Was the intervention really worth it?”3 With each passing year, the answer becomes less decisive; today, Kosovo and Serbia remain in limbo, having faced security and political crises of different magnitudes, albeit never a full-scale return to arms. However, while fact-based critical examinations of past events are always welcome, it is equally important not to lose perspective of the broader shifts and trends in international affairs that made such an intervention uniquely possible in the late 1990s.
Topic:
NATO, Ethnic Conflict, Humanitarian Intervention, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Balkans

13. The Extraordinary Gamble: How the Yugoslav Tribunal’s Indictment of Slobodan Milošević During the Kosovo War Affected Peace Efforts

Author:
Jacqueline R. McAllister
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
On 24 May 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY or Yugoslav Tribunal) made history by becoming the first international court to indict a sitting head of state: Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević. Since Milošević’s rise to power roughly a decade before, forces either directly or indirectly under his control had unleashed a reign of terror first in Croatia, then in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally in Kosovo. Indicting Milošević was no small feat: he did everything in his power to cover his tracks. Moreover, in order to secure crucial evidence (e.g., intelligence and satellite imagery linking Serb forces to crime sites) and the support necessary to actually put Milošević on trial, the ICTY required the backing of Western powers, which—until the Kosovo War in 1999—viewed Milošević as a vital, yet unsavory guarantor of peace in the region. Reactions to the indictment were mixed. While the Yugoslav Tribunal’s supporters heralded the indictment as a legal triumph that brought Milošević to his knees, its critics emphasized that, at best, the indictment was irrelevant and, at worst, an extraordinary gamble that had the potential to thwart an end to hostilities.1
Topic:
NATO, Ethnic Conflict, International Law, Peace, and Slobodan Milosevic
Political Geography:
Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Balkans

14. Destination NATO: Kosovo’s Alternatives towards NATO Membership

Author:
Plator Avdiu
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
The report addresses key challenges and existing complex relations between the Kosovo institutions and NATO. KCSS’ research has highlighted that the membership process of Kosovo towards NATO is challenged by external and internal impediments. Kosovo is the only country in the region of the Western Balkans left out of the NATO enlargement process. Furthermore, the country has not established any official or contractual cooperation and relations with NATO. This is due to non-recognition of Kosovo by four NATO member countries, NATO’s neutral stance towards the state of Kosovo since its Declaration of Independence on 17 February 2008 as well as NATO’s commitment that its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) to operate within the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. On the other hand, until recently neither the Kosovo institutions have not demonstrated readiness and practical commitment with respect to NATO integration. From 2008 to 2014, Kosovo has not indicated a firm political will that demands the commencement of official cooperation with NATO. The Kosovo policymakers have shown only declarative commitments as to Euro-Atlantic integration, whereas membership of Kosovo in NATO only became a priority for the Kosovo institutions in 2014. Additionally, Kosovo should undertake the necessary reforms related to establishing better cooperation and coordination of all institutions involved in NATO’s integration process.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, NATO, Treaties and Agreements, and Regional Security
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

15. EU – NATO Relations in The Western Balkans

Author:
Michael Littlehale
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Centre for Security Studies
Abstract:
This paper will outline past examples of successful cooperation in relevant operations (that is, in meeting security issues on the continent) in the western Balkans, and show the implications this has in moving forward. In doing so, the initial international response to the breakup of Yugoslavia will briefly be reviewed, and the subsequent involvement of NATO and Europe to these conflicts in the 1990s. This leads to US/NATO efforts that finally brought the warring parties to the table, and Europe’s increasing involvement as NATO phased out its operations. The evolution of institutional and operational dynamics of cooperation between the EU and NATO will then be examined before focusing on this relationship in regards to the western Balkans, and the impact it has had on the region —both positive and negative —to date. The paper will conclude with the lessons drawn and the implications for EU and NATO relations’ moving forward, as conflict once again has emerged on the European continent.
Topic:
International Relations, NATO, International Cooperation, European Union, Post-Conflict, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Balkans, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

16. The Transatlantic Bargain

Author:
Mark D. Ducasse (ed)
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Book
Abstract:
NATO is often described as the most successful military alliance in history. In addition to longevity, those characterizing NATO this way are usually thinking of the Alliance's role in protecting freedom and guaranteeing peace in Europe against a hostile Soviet Union, right until the Iron Curtain fell. NATO's role in ending ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, and in helping to re-integrate Central and Eastern Europe into the mainstream of Europe, only added to this positive image of the Alliance.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, NATO, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Soviet Union, and Balkans

17. What does a second Obama term mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkan region?

Author:
Heidi Hullinger
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Centre for Security Studies
Abstract:
The 2012 US presidential elections had Europe on its toes, hoping that US citizens chose a candidate that would surely win if the rest of the world had a vote. But Bosnians had little to go on, they’ve only known Obama to be the hands off sort, leaving the region to the expertise of Biden and Clinton and their deputies. It is hard for Bosnians to know what the election results would mean if Romney were elected. The European Union was largely absent from presidential discussions, so why would the Balkan region and enlargement countries be a topic of discussion? Regional policy has been an exercise in cooperation with the European Union, taking a backseat to the Accession process and contributing with aid and missions that focus on assisting Bosnia and Herzegovina in fulfilling NATO accession conditions. As a result, the US gets to play good cop, while the EU works, so far fruitlessly, to tackle corruption, constitutional reform and other hot button topics that cast the EU as bad cop. The appointment of the next US Secretary of State is the latest topic of conversation making headlines in the US. However, US-Bosnian relations and their engagement in the region is unlikely to see any major changes. Either way, the US may decide that it better serve Bosnians and its constituents at home by losing the good cop act and put tangible pressure on politicians.
Topic:
NATO, Elections, European Union, Barack Obama, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Balkans, United States of America, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

18. The Impact of NATO's New Missions on the Interests and National Security of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Book Review)

Author:
Fahimeh Ghorbani
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), originally created in the post-WW2 world as an organization dedicated to the collective defense of its member states and a countervailing force against the Warsaw Pact, has undergone tremendous change since. The first major turning point came in the wake of the end of the Cold War and the bipolar world. The new situation changed the Organization's mission, functions, and policies mainly within the European theatre, as best reflected in NATO's military intervention in the Balkans (former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The second wave of change came in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent direct engagement in Afghanistan; NATO's new function as a military arm of the United Nations – which continues to date.
Topic:
NATO, Cold War, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Europe, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

19. Lessons from NATO's Military Missions in the Western Balkans

Author:
Dennis Blease
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The subject of learning lessons is fraught with difficulties, not least because lessons, like beauty, are often in the eye of the beholder. It has been the author's experience that many lessons that are formally identified as such are not learned. The reasons for this are varied: those identifying the lessons may be biased; the resources to enable learning may be lacking; and the lessons simply may not "stick." Nonetheless, those lessons that do become embedded in the human and organizational psyche are those that have created new doctrines, reshaped institutions, become an integral part of new training standards, and demonstrably shown an improvement in the conduct of business.
Topic:
NATO
Political Geography:
Balkans

20. What to do about Bosnia and Herzegovina?: The Case for Accelerated NATO Membership and OSCE Coordination of Constitutional Reform

Author:
Edward P. Joseph
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
The policy choice in Bosnia revolves around one question: how much time does the country have? If one believes that the country is reasonably stable, that another election will produce more cooperative leaders, and that Bosnia's "EU future" is assured, then the way forward is clear: cede international leadership in Bosnia from the U.S. to the European Union.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, NATO, and Democratization
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Balkans