Between Exit and Engagement: On the Division of Authority in Transitional Administrations

Abstract

Abstract This article examines recent assessments of the transitional administrations in the Balkans and East Timor with particular regard to the division of labor (international-domestic). Much of the writing on East Timor decries the failure to give more authority to domestic officials, while that on the Balkans disparages international officials for insufficient vigor in forcing domestic nationalists to implement “cosmopolitan” mandates. With the exception of the UN Secretary General’s first substantial report about UNMIK, these analyses eschew systematic treatment of how authority is divided between international and domestic officials and how it is transferred from international to domestic officials. The article argues that an effective division of labor is essential to the success of postconflict administration and that it deserves more analytic and operational attention.