Kosovo: Peace Support Operation or Counterinsurgency?

Abstract

Abstract : 3 Commando Brigade's tour in Kosovo was defined as a Peace Enforcement operation despite evidence prior to deployment that ethnic Albanian dissidents were unwilling to conform to the provisions of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1244. Ethnic Albanians had conducted an effective insurgency against Serb forces in the region until NATO's intervention in 1999. The aim of the insurgency was to establish Kosovo as an independent sovereign state. However, the international community was unwilling to give any firm commitment to independence for Kosovo in 1999. This fact, combined with the municipal election results in October 2000, further radicalized those ethnic Albanians who had fought the Serbs for independence. The insurgency that had been directed against the Serbs was then redirected towards both the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The end state was still independence. Two proxy insurgencies were conducted by the Albanian population, one in the Presevo Valley and one in Macedonia. This insurgency became a new source of instability for the Balkan region. NATO and UNMIK must treat ethnic Albanian nationalism as an insurgent dynamic and deal with it accordingly. In that light, Kosovo's status must be redefined along with UNSCR 1244. Moreover, NATO PSO doctrine must be updated to include COIN techniques. Finally, the NATO and UN agencies in Kosovo must be resourced to effectively fight an insurgency.