This book tells the story of Kosovo's independence, from the periodic bloodshed of the twentieth century to the diplomacy that led to a determination of Kosovo's final status as a state in 2008. ...Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008, over the objection of Serbia and Russia. This culminated in more than a hundred years of, sometimes violent, resistance to what the majority Albanian population considered to be 'occupation' by foreign forces - first those of the Ottoman Empire, then those of Serbia, and finally by the United Nations. Kosovo's independence was the product of careful diplomacy, orchestrated by the United States and leading members of the European Union, under a framework brokered by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, who subsequently won the Nobel Prize for Peace.
The reconstruction of Kosovo after 1999 was one of the largest and most ambitious international interventions in a post-conflict country. The United Nations, other major multinational organisations ...and many large bilateral aid donors all played a role in restoring stability and establishing governance in the territory. This book looks beyond the apparently united and generally self-congratulatory statements of these international actors to examine what actually happened when they tried to work together in Kosovo to achieve this goal. It considers the interests and motivations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each of the major players and how they contributed to the creation of new institutions in public finance and public sector management. Although in general the international exercise in Kosovo can be seen as a success, in the sphere of public administration the results have been mixed. More than fifteen years later, some institutions of government perform well while others face ongoing challenges. The book argues that much of the current day performance of the Kosovo government can be traced to the steps taken, or not taken, by these international actors in the crucial first years.
The ICJ´s Opinion on Kosovo of 22 July 2010 has touched upon many pivotal questions of international law. This book contains a comprehensive stock-taking on this subject written by several ...international law experts from different European countries.
The war in Kosovo has been a defining moment in post-Cold War Europe. Kosovo has great importance beyond the Balkans as the most ambitious attempt of the international community to prevent internal ...conflicts and rebuild a society destroyed by war and ethnic cleansing. As the danger of ethnic conflict prevails in the region and elsewhere around the world, the experience of Kosovo offers important lessons. This is a comprehensive survey of developments in Kosovo leading up to, during and after the war in 1999, providing additionally the international and regional framework to the conflict. It examines the underlying causes of the war, the attempts by the international community to intervene, and the war itself in spring 1999. It critically examines the international administration in Kosovo since June 1999 and contextualizes it within the relations of Kosovo to its neighbours and as part of the larger European strategy in Southeastern Europe with the stability pact. It does not seek to promote one interpretation of the conflict and its aftermath, but brings together a range of intellectual arguments from some sixteen researchers from the Balkans, the rest of Europe and North America.
'With its unique focus, this book constitutes an important milestone in a large academic debate. With its 350 pages this rich collection provides many valuable perspectives, yet, it also raises some questions.'
- Nationalities Papers, Vol 32, No. 2
'With its multi-disciplinary character this book is a valuable source for scholars, policy-makers, and journalists who want to make feasible arguments and informed policy choices related to the region.'
- Maria Koinova, Harvard University
1. Claims to Kosovo 2. Kosovo or Kosova 3. Ethnic Prejudices and Discrimination 4. The Limits of Non Military International Intervention 5. Rambouillet 6. When Doves Support War and Hawks Oppose It 7. The Theory of Humanitarian Intervention 8. War on Kosovo 9. Religion in Kosovo and the Balkans 10. The UN in Kosovo 11. Ethnic Borders to a Democratic Society 12. The EU Intervention 13. Questioning Reconstruction v Regional Perspectives for an Independent Kosovo 14. Kosovo Independence and Macedonian Stability 15. Serbia after the Kosovo War
Florian Bieber, is Senior Non-Resident Research Fellow at the European Center for Minority Issues, in Belgrade and has edited many publications in the field of ethnic conflict. Zidas Daskalovski is currently posted at the Central European University in Budapest and is Chief Researcher for Minority Information Service, Macedonian NGO dealing with minority issues
The concept of UN peacekeeping has had to evolve and change to meet the challenges of contemporary sources of conflict; consequently, peacekeeping operations have grown rapidly in number and ...complexity. This book examines a number of issues associated with contemporary multinational peace operations, and seeks to provide insights into the problems that arise in establishing and deploying such forces to meet the challenges of current conflicts. The focus of the book is three case studies (Lebanon, Somalia and Kosovo), involving a comparative analysis of the traditional peacekeeping in Lebanon, the more robust peace enforcement mission in Somalia, and the international administration undertaken on behalf of the international community in Kosovo. The book analyses the lessons that may be learned from these operations in terms of mandates, command and control, use of force and the relevance of international humanitarian and human rights law to such operations.
When is the use of force for humanitarian purposes legitimate? The book examines this question through one of the most controversial examples of humanitarian intervention in the post Cold War period: ...the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo. Justifying Violence applies a critical theoretical approach to an interrogation of the communicative practices which underpin claims to legitimacy for the use of force by actors in international politics. Drawing on the theory of communicative ethics, the book develops an innovative conceptual framework which contributes a critical communicative dimension to the question of legitimacy that extends beyond the moral and legal approaches so often applied to the intervention in Kosovo. The empirical application of communicative ethics offers a provocative and nuanced account which contests conventional interpretations of the legitimacy of NATO's intervention. Summary reprinted by permission of Manchester University Press
Kosovo Corker, Robert J; Kostial, Kristina; Rehm, Dawn Elizabeth ...
2001., 02/12/2001, 2001, 2001-02-15
eBook, Book
Open access
Since the end of the conflict in Kosovo-a province of Serbia in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia-in June1999, IMF staff have been providing technical assistance to help the province rebuild its ...economy. The assistance has focused on setting up taxation and budgetary institutions, a payments and banking system, and a statistical framework. The IMF staff has also provided general macroeconomic policy advice, especially on budget formulation, which is the main focus of this publication. The IMF's technical assistance has been carefully coordinated with that of the World Bank and donor agencies.
