Search

Begin New Search Topic Government Political Geography Kosovo

11. Serbia's New Government: Turning from Europe

Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Serbia finally has a new government but one that is deeply divided between pro-Western and nationalist forces. Facing two difficult issues–Kosovo status and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)–its choice is between moving towards European integration or on to a more isolationist path. The government's composition, deep mistrust among many of its members and the parliament's nationalist majority suggest it will follow the second option. Pro-Western forces have suffered a significant setback, the government is vulnerable to manipulation by the security services and oligarchs, and the system of divided responsibility for the security services renders unlikely serious cooperation with the ICTY, especially the arrests of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. Although Kosovo independence could destabilise the government, it may surprise and last far longer and prove more stable than expected. The West should prepare for Serbia turning increasingly away from Europe and towards Moscow.
Topic:
International Relations, Government, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Moscow, and Serbia

12. Building the Rule of Law under UN Transitional Administration

Author:
Carolyn Bull
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
For international actors seeking to consolidate peace and democracy in disrupted states, the importance of establishing the rule of law is well-recognised. Yet this goal has proven frustratingly elusive. In the hostile intervention environment of the post-conflict disrupted state, international actors in the UN system and elsewhere have struggled to build legitimate state structures to redress disputes peacefully. They have found it even more challenging to instil principles of governance that promote accountability to the law, protect against abuse and generate trust in the state. This brief examines the difficulties faced by UN peace operations in attempting to build the rule of law, with reference to UN transitional administrations in Cambodia, Kosovo and East Timor.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Development, Government, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Cambodia

13. Sub-regional SALW Collection Seminar

Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons
Abstract:
Government, NGO and International Organisation representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the UN Administered Territory of Kosovo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Montenegro participated in a sub-regional SALW (Weapons) Collection Seminar in Budva, Montenegro from 12 - 13 July 2006. The objective of the seminar was to discuss 'best practices' and share operational experience of SALW Collection activities within South Eastern Europe, in order to assist the Government of Montenegro in planning a possible SALW Collection process later this year.
Topic:
Government, Non-Governmental Organization, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Albania, and Croatia

14. Temporary Courts, Permanent Records

Author:
Trudy Huskamp Peterson
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Temporary international criminal courts create voluminous records of tremendous and lasting significance to victims, scholars, and legal practitioners, and arrangements must be made for their permanent protection, storage, and use. A conceptual framework is offered for creating a central international judicial archives under UN auspices and for standards to select, preserve, and manage the records of temporary international criminal courts. The closure of these courts makes a decision on the disposition of their records urgent: the Timor Leste Special Panels and Serious Crimes Unit closed in May 2005; the status talks on Kosovo are currently under way; the Sierra Leone court is to close in mid-2007; and the ICTY and ICTR are to complete all proceedings by 2010. A survey of the five courts reveals substantial differences among them because of the varied roles played by the United Nations in their establishment and operations. These differences in turn lead to differences in the potential disposition of the records. When the ICTY and ICTR close, their records will become the responsibility of the United Nations Archives and Records Management Section. The legal responsibility for the Sierra Leone court records is to be negotiated between the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone. The management of the copies of the East Timor records held by the United Nations is controlled by an agreement between that government and the United Nations. The records of the UN mission in Kosovo relating to the Kosovo internationalized courts will be divided among the government and the three organizations currently comprising the UN mission. Records of the tribunals are key research resources for victims, civic activists, academics, journalists, educators, and successors to current court officials. Potential users of the tribunal records urge officials to place the records where research will be fostered. Preservation requires active intervention to ensure that records can be used; if records are simply stored they will deteriorate, and electronic and audiovisual records will deteriorate irretrievably The ICTY, ICTR, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone must establish basic access rules for their records before closing; they should make every attempt to harmonize their access provisions. The United Nations should explore constructing and staffing an international judicial archives in The Hague and should begin providing copies of publicly available court records to institutions in the countries affected by the court proceedings. Governments and donors should actively encourage and support the United Nations in these efforts.
Topic:
Crime, Government, International Law, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Sierra Leone

15. Local Government Gender Mechanisms in the GPKT Micro-region

Author:
Kristina Hadzi-Vasileva
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The areas constituting the GPKT micro-region (fYR Macedonia,1 Serbia and Kosovo) belong to some of the least developed countries in Europe. Transition to market economies has been delayed because of armed conflicts, exclusion from the international community during periods of conflict, as well as the slow process of privatization (in the case of fYR Macedonia and Serbia). Despite the fact they once used to be a part of a single country, the current connection between these areas is unfortunately their characterization of political instability and weak institutions, problems compounded by the common struggle to transform their respective economies.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, and Government
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, Serbia, and Macedonia

16. Border Management in the Kosovo-Southern Serbia-fYR Macedonia Vortex: a Local Perspective

Author:
Henry Bolton
Publication Date:
03-2005
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The impositions of firstly, the international border between the fYR Macedonia and Yugoslavia in 1992, and secondly the conversion of Kosovo's Administrative Boundary Line (the ABL), between the province of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia, into a de-facto border in 1999, have had significant impacts on the social and economic lives of the predominantly ethnic Albanian border communities of Kosovo, Serbia and fYR Macedonia within the GPKT (Gjilan/Gnjilane-Presevo-Kumanovo-Trgoviste) micro-region. The situation in the past, whereby the people of the micro-region could travel and interact freely, whether socially or commercially, has changed. Now people wishing to cross from one side of the GPKT micro-region to another, say Gjilan/Gnjiilane to Kumanovo, must cross what are, in effect, two policed and guarded borders, complete with passport checks and customs inspections.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Macedonia

17. Bridging Kosovo's Mitrovica Divide

Publication Date:
09-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The international community has properly decreed that Kosovo's final status must not involve division of its territory. But this declaration has not been followed by sufficient action. Belgrade's policy of pursuing some form of partition is far advanced in the restive northern city of Mitrovica and its hinterland, and a major security, political and financial effort is required to save the situation. Capacity should be built immediately, and its implementation should begin once the Contact Group has declared its support for Kosovo's future as a functional, conditionally independent state within its present borders.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo

18. Monitoring the Northern Ireland Ceasefires: Lessons from the Balkans

Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
This briefing compares the mandate of the Independent Monitoring Commission for Northern Ireland (IMC) with those of two recent European examples of the monitoring and enforcement of compliance with peace agreements: the unsuccessful Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) of 1998-1999, and the much more fruitful mission of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1995. It attempts to identify lessons from those earlier experiences that may help the IMC carry out its mission in the context of carrying forward the Good Friday peace process.
Topic:
Government and Politics
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, and North Ireland

19. You, The People: The United Nations, Transitional Administration, and State-Building

Author:
Simon Chesterman
Publication Date:
11-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Transitional administrations represent the most complex operations attempted by the United Nations. The missions in Kosovo (1999—) and East Timor (1999–2002) are commonly seen as unique in the history of the United Nations. But they may also be seen as the latest in a series of operations that have involved the United Nations in 'state-building' activities, in which it has attempted to develop the institutions of government by assuming some or all of those sovereign powers on a temporary basis. Viewed in light of earlier UN operations, such as those in Namibia (1989–1990), Cambodia (1992–1993), and Eastern Slavonia (1996–1998), the idea that these exceptional circumstances may not recur is somewhat disingenuous. The need for policy research in this area was brought into sharp focus by the weighty but vague responsibilities assigned to the United Nations in Afghanistan (2002—) and its contested role in Iraq (2003—).
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Government, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Kosovo, Cambodia, Namibia, and Eastern Slavonia

20. Unbreakable Bond: Serbs and Kosovo

Author:
Vladimir Matic
Publication Date:
10-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Public International Law Policy Group
Abstract:
Nationalism remains a potent force in Serbia, strongly affecting the politicking within the political elite regarding final status issues in Kosovo. The democratic forces are not immune from Kosovo-related nationalism and have at times adopted hardline positions to diminish their vulnerabilities in the political struggle. Since the end of the Kosovo war the West has done nothing to dispel the perception in Belgrade that Serbia's legal claim of sovereignty over Kosovo remains valid in principle and of equivalent standing as an issue “on the table” with Kosovo Albanians' insistence on independence in the prelude to negotiations. Belgrade ignores the fact that, with virtually no Albanians in Kosovo willing to work with them, they have no Albanian partners in pursuing this goal. Kosovo Serbs also display considerable mistrust of Belgrade's concern for their interests. The EU and UNMIK have attempted to create a framework for progress on the issue, but success will hinge on the willingness of the United States to exercise diplomatic leadership to resolve the deadlock.
Topic:
Democratization, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Kosovo, Serbia, and Albania