Jonilda Rrapaj and Klevis Kolasi, “Kosovo/a Issue in International Relations Theories”, 2nd International Balkan Conference, The Balkans at a Crossroads: Evaluating Past, Reading Present, Imagining Future, Tirana, 10-13 October 2012. (original) (raw)

Kosovo Nationalism and the NATO Involvement in Managing a New Crisis

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2013

This article consists as an initial step, the chronology to the Kosovo Crisis within Kosovo Nationalism focusing on the origins of the crisis, and the failure of the diplomatic efforts. The public opinion about the Kosovo issue (Kosovar`s and Serb's opinion). States are reluctant to characterize use of force in the peace-enforcement context as equivalent to military operations in other conflict environments. Furthermore, state practice does not encourage the notion that rules of international humanitarian law can be applied to peace-enforcement in a predictable, systematic manner. Nonetheless, development at the close of the 20th century point in a positive direction. Also include NATO`s objectives in Kosovo. A brief background to peace operations, including peace enforcement, humanitarian intervention, the reasons standing behind the operation, its aims, justification and motives. The legality of intervention, also opinions about the NATO involvement in Kosovo.

KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE AS AN INTERNATIONAL ISSUE_A. Astapchuk (Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia)

Nowadays the Balkans probably can be considered as one of the most problematic and unstable regions that causes instability and threatens regional security. The region presents a significant sphere of interest not only for the European Union and Russia, but also for the United States. This complexity might probably indicate one of the main causes of ongoing and not so successful attempts to establish peace in the region. It can be said that one of the most recent concerning issues in the Balkans, that attracted attention of leading international actors and caused strong antagonism is the case of Kosovo independence. This essay will consider why Kosovo case presents such a complicated problem and raises so strong contradictions. Process of disintegration of Yugoslavia and creation of new states will be examined together with paying attention to inter-ethnic relations in the region and the role of international actors in the events.

Kosovo: War, Peace and Intervention in a Nutshell

2001

The Kosovo conflict is one of those outspoken events due not only to the dimension of the case itself but mostly to the challenges it brought to the revision of the main principles, structures and institutions established during the Cold War. Meanwhile, the particularity of such conflict stems from its idiosyncratic nature, and the difficulties involved in finding common points with other similar cases . Although some common features can be defined, a solution remains individualistic. The paper aims to comment on war and peace dimensions of the Kosovo case as such, it is not looking to provide straight an answer to the matrix of dilemmas !hat are generated in the domain of international relations from !he case. The paper is not aimed to reveal the large-extended problematic, enumerate al! circumstances and effecting factors relevant to the case, neither detail ail means and strategies that can be used to resolve the cases. These limitations are done with the intention of avoiding bu...

International Engagement, Transformation of the Kosova Question and Its Implications

The K.osovo question is not simply an ethnic problem betvveen the Albanians of Kosova and the Serbs. It cannot be separated from the broader neo-liberai restructuring at the global level. This paper shows that the dialectical relationship betvveen the two, demands of parties involved and international engagement, helped reshape the question. Indeed, this dialectical relationship played an important role in the redefinition and reproduction of forms of international engagement as vvell as the principles and concepts in the system of international relations from the early 1990s onwards. The international engagement in Kosova transformed the question rather than providing a settlement for it. It created precedents vvith the 'assertive multilateral' military 'humanitarian intervention' of 1999, turning Kosova into a protectorate of the international community by retrospectively legalizing the intervention through UNSC Resolution 1244. This paper argues that the Ahtisaari Plan that forms the basis of 'independence under international supervision' transforms the context of the Kosova question once more and creates further precedents rather than resolving the question through negotiated settlement.

Kosovo Independence: Dilemmas on NATO's Aggression in 1999

Twenty-five years commemoration of NATO’s military intervention against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the FRY) in March−June 1999 once again opened the question of the Western foundation for Kosovo’s secession from Serbia and its unilateral proclamation of a quasi-independence in February 2008. Kosovo became the first and only European state today that is ruled by the terroristic warlords as a party’s possession – the (Albanian) Kosovo Liberation Army (the KLA). This article aims to investigate the nature of NATO’s war on Yugoslavia in 1999 which has as an outcome the creation of the first terroristic state in Europe – the Republic of Kosovo.

The Kosovo Moment: The United States and the Post-Cold War Balkans

This study attempts to assess the importance of the humanitarian intervention in Kosovo, the last phase of Yugoslavian agony. It provides a historical background of the region in order to better understand the mosaic of ethnic divisions and hatred as well as the cultural differences and the rise of nationalism through time. Furthermore, it analyzes the events and evaluates the performance of the United States, Europe and intergovernmental organizations in preventing genocide, pushing for regime change and state-building. The last stage considers the United States role in the Balkans and beyond, aiming to provide essential lessons and recommendations on future interventions and state-building processes by considering the accomplishments and failures in Kosovo, for the purpose of maintaining a stable and peaceful world order.

Three Essays on Kosovo - Essay III

Kosovo still represents a clear case of international state-building efforts in the 21 st century. In particular, international institutions like UN, NATO, EU along with individual countries have led state-building since the end of the conflict in 1999. The case of Kosovo is particularly important when addressing questions related to the transition from a centralized to a market economy; intervention and international legitimacy; collective trauma and dealing with the past as well as core difficulties faced by transitioning democracies. At first, state building in both Bosnia and Kosovo was primarily driven by the US. Gradually, the EU has taken over in both countries. 1 As for now, one of the main problems remain Kosovo's lack legitimacy in the north, which impedes the state's sovereignty. We will analyses key periods and actors that have influenced the establishment and development of the Republic of Kosovo.

Kosovo, Self-Determination and the International Order

Europe-Asia Studies, 2013

The contributions to the special section 'Post-Soviet Conflict Potentials' are based on presentations given during the fourth annual international conference, 'Breaking the Ice of Frozen Conflicts? Understanding Territorial Conflicts in East and Southeast Europe', at the Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (now Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS)) in 2016; on discussions during an international authors' workshop at the IOS in May 2017; and on invitations arising from these events. The guest editor thanks Tanja Tamminen and Hanna Smith for their earlier input and engagement in preparing this special section. Cindy Wittke also thanks the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies for funding the language editing for all contributions to the special section.

“The Role of International Community in Conflict Situation. Which Way Forwards? The Case of Kosovo/a Conflict”, Balkanologie: Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires. Vol. 8, No 1, pp. 9-31, (June 2004)

Balkanologie: Revue d'études pluridisciplinaires, 2004

The changes and continuities of international community policies towards the Kosovo/a conflict involved a contested reorientation of attitude intimately tied up with the preservation of international peace, regional order and existing institutions. The prerequisites of order shaped at a significant degree the behaviour and the arrangements of international community to the settlement of the case. Accordingly, the attitude and the engagement of international community in the Kosovo/a case can be explained in terms of these prerequisites rather than the intrinsic causes of the conflict. These arrangements offered by international community as solutions to Yugoslav dissolution process did significantly affect the development of the Kosovo/a conflict. These policies failed to produce consensus between the parties in conflict, instead, as the paper would try to demonstrate, they played the role of a catalyst in the initiation of the conflict. Therefore, this paper, by offering a detailed reconstruction of the process by which the international community tried to settle the Kosovo/a case1, would seek to demonstrate how the dynamics of the conflict interacted dynamically with international community attitude and policies towards the case.