NATO's Campaign Research Articles

From Intervention to Retrenchment: Poland's Strategic Culture and the 2011 Libyan Campaign

The willingness of successive Polish governments to support and participate in US-led multilateral military interventions—such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq—has been explained in terms of Poland's prevailing strategic culture. Yet in 2011 Poland opted to exclude itself from participating in the NATO campaign against Libya. It is argued that this was not a counter-cultural decision, but was instead a case of one strategic subculture supplanting another. The support that the government received from opposition politicians and the press can be taken as evidence that the policy did not represent a radical departure from Poland's strategic culture.

The cauldron: NATO's campaign in Libya

The cauldron: NATO's campaign in Libya

Europeanization of the Balkans, or Balkanization of Europe?

Europeanization of the Balkans, or Balkanization of Europe? Vasko Naumovski (bio) The European Union enlargement process has been a substantial benefit for European citizens and has proved to be the most successful transition of the post-communist countries. Nevertheless, the Balkans region remains without a clear perspective for full integration into the EU, creating potential for further uncertainty and even conflict. In attempting to contain the "Powder Keg of Europe," greater attention needs to be paid to the ending of bilateral disputes and the enabling of selfsustainability in the region. This article analyzes the conflicting concepts of Europeanization and Balkanization, discussing the place of the Balkans in the European Union and internal challenges to the EU such as the rise of nationalism, security threats, the migrant crisis, the lack of consensus, and even fragmentation. Challenges faced by the EU today are different from those in the 1980s or 1990s, yet these past lessons should be taken into consideration while defining the future developments of the Union, including its final borders, decision-making reforms, and values shared by all of its current and potential members states. A History of Fragmentation The Balkans have a reputation for normalized conflict and bloodshed. History, religion, ethnicity, territory, and political ideology have served to provoke violence in what has seemed like a never-ending cycle. Overlapping foreign interests and intervention, as well as independence movements, have increased the explosive potential, earning the Balkans the nickname "Powder Keg of Europe." In the past, nearly all Balkan ethnic groups struggled to create their "great nation-states"—often at the expense of their neighbors. In the years before the First World War, ideas of "pan-Slavic" unity in the Balkans promoted by Imperial Russia, as well as attempts to expand the spheres of influence of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, created a volatile environment in which local events often led to major regional conflicts. The 20th-century fragmentation of the Balkan Peninsula began with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Subsequent divisions of its remaining territory took place during the Balkan Wars, the First and Second World Wars, and eventually culminated in the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The decline of the Ottoman Empire1 (mainly due to failed reform attempts, inefficient bureaucracy and repeated uprisings), the formation of national identities, and the rise of newly created nation-states significantly increased the potential for conflict in the Balkans at the end of the 19th century. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 by Russia and its increased pressure on the region were merely additions to the powder keg. Subsequently, these tensions were heightened by the outbreak of World [End Page 120] War I, as neither Balkan war seemed to satisfy the aspirations of the countries involved. After World War I, the creation of a unified South Slavic state—into what ultimately became Yugoslavia—seemed to have stabilized most of the region until the second half of the 20th century. Nevertheless, the region's proximity to both the Eastern and Western military blocs during the Cold War, internal ethnic-based irredentism, a failing economy, and ideological diversity led to the most violent clashes in Europe after World War II. In particular, the breakup of Yugoslavia and its aftermath caused a number of conflicts across its territory: the 1991 conflict between the Yugoslav People's Army (YPA) and Slovenian Defense Forces; the Croatian Serbs/YPA versus Croatia in 1991–95; the Bosnian Serbs/YPA against Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats in 1992–95; the Army of Yugoslavia versus the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998–99; the 1999 NATO campaign against the Army of Yugoslavia; the Army of Yugoslavia versus the Liberation Army of Preshevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac in 1992–2001; and the Army of the Republic of Macedonia against the National Liberation Army in 2001. All of these developments gave rise to the term "Balkanization," which refers to ethnic conflict within multiethnic states, as well as, more specifically, the ethnic cleansing and civil war that often occur following the dis-integration of such states.2 Similarly, it has been described as the act of breaking up regions or groups into smaller, often hostile units.3 The...

International Law, NATO’s Campaign to Kill Gaddafi and the Need for a New <i>Jus Cogens</i>

This essay surveys general and topical literature to place the NATO campaign against Gaddafi in a historical context. The history of war as a legal idea is examined, along with the practical limitations to applying “international law” as currently espoused. The essay finds both serious practical and philosophical shortcomings inherent in modern approaches and advocates the development of a new jus cogens based on the Right to be Protected (R2BP) to address these flaws. If successfully implemented, the R2BP would represent a fundamental shift in sovereignty away from States and towards citizens, albeit vested in a professionalized United Nations office.

International organization at war: NATO practices in the Afghan campaign

This article investigates the NATO campaign in Afghanistan through a practice-based approach. The structural distribution of power within NATO, which is obviously in favor of the US, does not automatically lead to Washington’s desired outcomes, and US delegates must competently perform a certain number of practices for their power advantage to take its full effect. The article also illustrates how looking at practices helps to explain policy decisions, such as NATO’s decision to engage in Afghanistan, the establishment of an International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) strategy and the wording of policy papers. By studying a case of military diplomacy, the article contributes to the emerging scholarship aimed at bridging the gap between diplomatic studies and practice-based approaches to International Relations.

Epidemiology and structure of congenital anomalies of the newborns in the region of Novi Sad (Vojvodina, Serbia) in 1996 and 2006.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, congenital anomalies are all disorders of the organs or tissues, regardless of whether they are visible at birth or manifest in life, and are registered in the International Classification of Diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence and structure of prenatally detected and clinically manifested congenital anomalies in the newborns in the region of Novi Sad (Province of Vojvodina, Serbia) in the two distant years (1996 and 2006). This retrospective cohort study included all the children born at the Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics (Clinical Center of Vojvodina) in Novi Sad during 1996 and 2006. The incidence and the structure of congenital anomalies were analyzed. During 1996 there were 6,099 births and major congenital anomalies were found in 215 infants, representing 3.5%. In 2006 there were 6,628 births and major congenital anomalies were noted in 201 newborns, which is 3%. During 1996 there were more children with anomalies of musculoskeletal system, urogenital tract, with anomalies of the central nervous system and chromosomal abnormalities. During the year 2006 there were more children with cardiovascular anomalies, followed by urogenital anomalies, with significant decline in musculoskeletal anomalies. The distribution of the newborns with major congenital anomalies, regarding perinatal outcome, showed the difference between the studied years. In 2006 the increasing number of children required further investigation and treatment. There is no national registry of congenital anomalies in Serbia so the aim of this study was to enlight this topic. In the span of ten years, covering the period of the NATO campaign in Novi Sad and Serbia, the frequency of major congenital anomalies in the newborns was not increased. The most frequent anomalies observed during both years implied the musculosketelal, cardiovascular, urogenital and central nervous system. In the year 2006 there was a significant eruption of cardiovascular anomalies and a significant decrease of musculoskeletal anomalies, chromosomal abnormalities and central nervous system anomalies, while the number of urogenital anomalies declined compared to the year 1996.

A responsibility to protect Africa from the West? South Africa and the NATO intervention in Libya

This article will argue that South Africa’s widely misinterpreted approach to conflict mediation and peace building is informed by the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) experience of the transition to democracy in South Africa. This was particularly evident in the Libyan crisis, where South Africa was widely accused of exhibiting a morally duplicitous and ideologically rudderless foreign policy because of the manner in which it initially supported intervention and subsequently became one of the fiercest critics of the NATO campaign. It will be argued that this is an inaccurate caricature of South Africa’s foreign policy and that South Africa’s approach could in fact inject vital pluralism into debates about the future of humanitarian interventions in Africa. The article draws upon interviews with senior officials in the ruling ANC and South African officials who negotiated the UN Security Council resolutions that sanctioned intervention in Libya.

Nicolas Sarkozy's Africa policy: Change, continuity or confusion?

Three years after inviting Colonel Ghadafi on a state visit, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was spearheading NATO's campaign against the Libyan regime. This dramatic volte face pointed to a new approach to North Africa, while also highlighting the immobility of French policy towards black Africa. Before being elected, Sarkozy had promised to break with Francafrique. But did he deliver? This article does not confine itself to the usual debate about rupture/continuity but also assesses the extent to which Sarkozy's Africa policy was marked by uncertainty, inconsistency and confusion. It looks for evidence of rupture, continuity and confusion during the Sarkozy era. It then identifies the factors driving and constraining change, as well as the causes of policy incoherence. It ends by exploring the wider implications of this case and identifying future policy directions.

Tilting at Windmills? The Indian Debate over the Responsibility to Protect after UNSC Resolution 1973

India voted for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970, but abstained from Resolution 1973 authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya, subsequently criticizing the NATO campaign. This stance provoked much comment within India and among foreign commentators on Indian foreign policy. Some praised it as morally superior to approving military action, which was portrayed by some as Western ‘neo-colonialism’. Others, however, were critical of India’s unwillingness to back intervention in Libya and the principle of the Responsibility to Protect. For the critics, India’s objections to UNSC 1973 merely demonstrated the continued weakness of the foreign policy establishment and its inability to balance power politics and ethical values. This article evaluates these various positions, but argues that while the Libyan episode stimulated an unprecedented amount of comment in India about R2P, it is unlikely that the Indian government or leading Indian commentators will soon shift their positions.

NATO steps up the pace in Libya

NATO's campaign in Libya has reached stalemate, the media has concluded; but some political leaders counter that time is on NATO's side, rather than with the Libyan regime. Both views are too simplistic. Modest recent gains by rebel forces in western Libya suggest that the war is not completely deadlocked. But NATO has not yet applied sufficient combat power to decisively change the balance on the ground. And the longer the campaign goes on, the greater the risks posed by a possible bombing blunder or unpredictable turn of events. Awareness of such risks may be behind the stepping-up of NATO efforts.

Socio-economic status and psychosocial functioning of internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade

This study aimed at investigating the differences between internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade in relation to socio-economic status and psychosocial functioning. The investigation was conducted in Belgrade in 2000 and comprised 560 high school adolescents aged 18.1 ± 0.9 years (response rate 88%)--32 participants were internally displaced from Kosovo 1 year after the NATO campaign in Serbia (1999) and 528 were adolescents who lived in Belgrade more than 10 years. A specific questionnaire was used to obtain data on employment of family members, housing conditions, socialization, school success, smoking, alcohol consumption, and psychoactive substance use. Cornell Medical Index was applied as the screening test for neuroticism. Internally displaced adolescents had poorer housing conditions (p < 0.001), poorer school social relations (p < 0.001), and their school achievement was inferior (p < 0.002). The compared groups did not significantly differ in the frequency of smoking, alcohol consumption, psychoactive substance use, and neuroticism. Significant differences observed between internally displaced adolescents and adolescents from Belgrade in some components of both socioeconomic status and psychosocial functioning suggest adverse effects of displacement.

Book Review: The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea to Iraq

The First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth-Maker from the Crimea Iraq, by Phillip Knightley, (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), 3rd edition, 608 pages, $21.95When Philip Knightly wrote the first edition of First Casualty 30 years ago, its context was post-Vietnam. His purpose in the first edition, he writes, was to record how had been reported through the ages and highlight the unforgiving verdict of history on those reports . . . important parts of the story had been omitted or twisted (xiii). His new edition of First Casualty: The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth Maker from the Crimea Iraq continues document how correspondents got the story wrong after war.Knightley, for 20 years investigative journalist for London's Sunday Times, has added six chapters since his first edition (1975). Two chapters fill in gaps not included in the first edition: one on the Boer War, from which British correspondents Conan Doyle and Winston Churchill reported, and a fascinating chapter documenting the severe censorship, propaganda and political dangers facing correspondents covering the French in the Algerian War.Four new chapters chronicle the coverage since Vietnam. Britannia Rules the News 1975-1989 examines the poor quality of reporting from trouble spots after Vietnam: Rhodesia, East Timor, Lebanon, Afghanistan (Soviet invasion) and the Falklands. Then follow chapters on the Gulf War, NATO's campaign against the Serbs and the ongoing Iraq War. Knightley suggests that in these post-Vietnam conflicts, Western correspondents have been incorporated as an integral part of the [military] task force, propagandists for the... cause (481). In his forward the third edition, Knightley challenges journalists examine their role in the promotion of war (xiii).The First Casualty, excellent overview of major military actions and their coverage, puts the reporting of the current Iraq War in proper context. In his compelling account of World War I reporting, the writer sets up a vivid contrast between the British correspondents and their American counterparts as they reported under the strictures of military censors and intense propaganda apparatus. Knightley concludes that because British coverage of World War I was such a blatant whitewash of wretched conditions at the front, the public lost confidence in newspapers as a source of truthful information.World War II did not produce much better coverage for the British public. Knightley highlights some of the myths generated by the war's reporting. We learn that the conditions of the Allied forces' heroic escape from were over-glamorized and that, in fact, Dunkirk need not have happened (254) because the Allies had superior troops and tanks compared the German force that routed the Allies into a stampede back Britain. Another myth Knightley challenges is that the bitter Russian winter defeated the German army on the Eastern front when, in fact, the Russian Army had more tanks, better winter uniforms and leaders capable of matching German military tactics.Although Western correspondents began the Korean War censor-free, first a voluntary system and then strict censorship were imposed in the field. When critical commentary was received stateside, self-censorship stemmed dispatches that might further erode waning popular support for the war. …

When Bombs Fall: Becoming American During the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia (excerpts)

The material presented here is adapted from a diary I wrote during the NATO bombing of my former home country , which was still calling itself Yugoslavia. At the time , I was living in South Florida , where I taught at a university. On 3/18/99, just before the NATO campaign began , I had submitted my application for naturalization and was anxiously awaiting a response from the INS , as I was to become stateless in a few months with the expiration of my red passport, issued in the former Yugoslavia.

Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948 by Philipp s&gt; Ther Ana Siljak (review)

REVIEWS i6i Geographically, the work covers the whole of the Soviet Union and thus includesthe Caucasusand the Volga region aswell as CentralAsia. There are five sections, each dealing with key sets of issues.The firstsection looks at the political context. The second section, devoted to 'establishment' Islam, includes a detailed examination of such topics as official institutions and sanctionedpractices;obstaclesto the implementationof religiouspreceptsare also noted. The two largestsections (each over one hundred pages in length) treat 'unofficial'Islam and the social dimension. An understandingof these informalmanifestationsof Muslimpiety is crucialto any evaluationof the role of Islam in the Soviet Union. The fifth section examines the relationship between the Soviet regime and Islam, including ideology, internal security and foreign policy considerations.The final chapter raises the issue of Islam and nationalidentity,and the transmutationof thisrelationshipinto the nexus between Islamand nationalism. It is unfortunatethatthe text is marredby a numberof misprints.However, these are small distractionsand in no way detractfrom the very real merit of this study. In short, it is an indispensablework for anyone with an interestin Islam in the Soviet Union, and likewise Islam in the post-Soviet successor states. HearandMiddle EastDepartment S. AKINER School ofOriental andAfrican Studies University ofLondon Ther, Philipp, and Siljak,Ana (eds).Redrawing Nations.EthnicCleansing inEastCentralEurope ,I944-I948. HarvardCold War StudiesBook Series. Rowman & Littlefield,Lanham, MA, and Oxford, 200I. Xii+ 343 pp. Notes. Tables. Figures.Map. Index. C26.95(paperback). POLAND and Czechoslovakiaemerged from the Second WorldWaras almost homogenous nation-states. National minorities, a third of each country's population in the inter-warperiod, were expelled en masse;those remaining were vigorously'denationalized'.Poland and the Czech Republic today have stable borders, no irredentist claims on their own or other's territory and, leaving aside the mildly irritatingdemands from the Sudeten German lobby, good relationswith their neighbours.They also stand in the firstrankfor EU membership: a mark, if any were needed, of their status as mature nationstates . For those frustratedwith contemporary developments (Palestine, the formerYugoslavia)who are castingaroundfor easy solutions,it is temptingto ask:might the ends (internationalstability)justifythe means (massexpulsion)? They most certainly do not, argues Ana Siljak in the conclusion to this collection of fourteenwide-rangingessaysbyAmericanand CentralEuropean scholars on various aspects of expulsion and resettlement in Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War. 'Internationally supervisedethnic cleansing' (p. 328) involved immense human sufferingand material loss; only the rigid confines of the Cold War prevented the ethnographicaland territorialorderfrombeing challenged and overturned. I62 SEER, 8i, I, 2003 An awarenessof contemporaryethnic conflictand the lessonsthat mightbe learnt from the past are present throughout this collection which, although it takes the fashionable term 'ethnic cleansing' as its title, spends little time discussing its validity as an analytical tool for historians (unfortunately,no clear definition is given and the term is used loosely and interchangeably). When, as in Philipp Ther's introductorysurvey on twentieth-centuryforced migrations,the reader is treated to a glowing assessmentof Nato's campaign in Kosovo in i 999 and the suggestionthat 'suchinterventionswill makeethnic cleansing a relic of the past' (p. 63), one does begin to wonder whether a collection such as this is really the right place for historians to make policy recommendations. But on the whole, the reader is left to drawparallelsof his or her own choosing and this striving for contemporary relevancy does not detractfromthe overallvalue of the book, which lies in three main areas. Firstly,the contributionsdraw extensively on recently declassifiedarchival material from the former eastern bloc. The fresh perspectivesand the more variegated picture, particularlyof local decision-making, that this inevitably gives can only be welcomed. It also serves as a good indication of both the state of researchin this field and, as Eagle Glassheimoutlines in his piece on Czechoslovakia, areas where further research is needed. Secondly, because the collection is organized by country (it is divided into sections on Poland, Czechoslovakiaand the two Germanys,with most emphasison thefirst)rather than by minority,the readeris betterable to appreciatethe directbearingone population displacementhad on another.This isparticularlyinstructivein the case of Poland,where the fate of its German and Ukrainianpopulations(dealt with by StanislawJankowiak, Orest Subtelny and MarekJasiak)was bound up with that of ethnic Poles removed from territorieseast of the River Bug annexed to...

Outcast Europe: The Balkans, 1789-1989. From the Ottomans to Milošević by Tom s&gt; Gallagher (review)

146 SEER, 8i, I, 2003 grain of salt. One of the reasons for maritalbreakdownwas due to changing gender relations. The reasons for a decline in the divorce rate were complex and ranged from changes in gender relations to external reasons such as the riseof anti-Semitism,which forcedJews to rely on the familyforprotection. The fourthchaptershowsthatmarriagebreakdownwasnot alwaysfollowed by divorce. By investigating divorce agreements Freeze provides us with insightsinto parent-childaswell as husband-wiferelations. In the last chapter the author discussesnot only the crisisin the familybut the failure of the state and society to solve these issues. The intervention of RussianjuristsinJewish maritallawwas an attemptto create a singleuniform law code for all Russiansubjects.However, in the end no reformtookplace in the finalyears of the Russian Empire.Women would have benefited from the reformsmost, but women had alreadylearned how to 'utilizeand manipulate the Russian administrativeand legal system'(p. 283). The studyprovides insightsinto the behaviour patternsof ordinaryJewish women and men and shattersthe notion of the intactJewish family. Since a comparativeapproachis takenat times, the book placesJewish societywithin the frameworkof the wider society. The study 'seeks to combine the social historian'squest to understand"everydaylife" with the postmodernist'sclose attention to language in examining the transformationof theJewish familyin Imperial Russia' (p. 6). Clearly this goal has been achieved. What makesthis book specificallyvaluable is itsfine gender analysis. Department ofHistory CLAUDIA PRESTEL University ofLeicester Gallagher, Tom. Outcast Europe.TheBalkans,I789-I989. FromtheOttomans to Milosevic. Routledge, London and New York, 2001. xx + 314 PP. Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. [55.00. THIS isan irritatingandmisleadingbook, despiteitsflashesof insightand good use of sources.Itpurportsto be aworkof history,butreadsmorelikea tractfor its own times, and not a very convincing one at that. Tom Gallagheris rightly anxious to combat the persistentview of the Balkansas the seat of endemic, age-old hatreds, but reaches for an alternative explanation of Balkan strife which is no lessfar-fetched.Gallagher'scentralthesisis that most, if not all, of the problemsof south-easternEurope are attributableto greatpower interference , 'unfavourableinternational pressure consistently applied' (p. vii; italics added).Althoughtherearemanysubjectswhichtheauthorcanonlysatisfactorily explain with reference to indigenous developments and actions, he seeks repeatedlyto root his analysisin the malignant influence of the great powers. When the latterarenot guiltyof interference,they are accusedof indifference, so that Gallagher manages to have his cake and eat it too. In Gallagher's interpretationvirtuallyeverydevelopment in the Balkans,fromnationalismto the NATO campaign of I999, is seen as malignant and imposed. The rise of nationalism, for instance, is seen as an unfortunatedeparturefrom 'Ottoman multiculturalism',with the Balkanpeoples 'luredinto mutuallyhostile "imagined communities"' (p. 35). Later, it is alleged, great power interference REVIEWS 147 thwarted 'Balkanunion' at the Congress of Berlin (p. 48), and turned 'South Slavsolidarityinto endemic BalkanSlavrivalry'(p. 57). The book's first chapter, covering I789-19I4, is the weakest and most error-ridden. There is confusion as to the origins of Orthodoxy, which Gallagher refers to (pp. 2I-22) as if it were a separate religion since the beginnings of Christianity.Worseis the author'stendency to use twenty-firstcenturylanguage with respect to historicalphenomena, such as the reference to 'ordinaryWest Europeans'defending Constantinople in I453 (P. 23), or to 'West European public opinion' in the context of the Greek war of independence (p. 37). Equally absurd is the exaggeratedly positive image projected of the Ottoman Empire, which 'allowed talented Balkan figures [.. .] to walk on a world stage' (p. 26), as if the undoubted upward mobility possible for (mainly Muslim) subjects of the Sultan were the result of some Ottoman equivalent of the Equal Opportunities Act. Once past I9I4, Gallagherstartsmakingmore sense,because he is able to devote greaterspace to internaldevelopmentsaswell as internationalaffairs.Some of the criticisms of BritishForeign Office contempt for the issue of minorityprotection in the interwarperiod are certainly warranted, and there is a reasonably coherent account of domestic developments in individual countries. Nevertheless, Gallagher attributes too much blame for Balkan woes on 'Versailles',as if Balkan governments and peoples had nothing to do with the post-war settlement. Significant home-grown movements like the Iron Guard in Romania are not discussed, and judgments such as calling King Alexander 'the only real unifying force in Yugoslavia'are questionable to say the least. The greatpowers are denounced, with little distinctionbetween them, for not promoting 'transnationalarrangements'between Balkan states...

Student Nationalism in China

Peer pressure, not hatred of the United States, sent Chinese university students to the streets during the 1999 NATO campaign against Serbia.

Computer Network Attack: The Normative Software

As the United States, assisted by a number of its allies, continues to mount asymmetrical attacks against terrorists and their supporters, the centrality of technology to ‘future war’ is becoming increasingly apparent. In a matter of months, US Forces successfully routed, with almost no hostile fire casualties, a battle-hardened and ruthless adversary in a combat environment that frustrated the potent Soviet army for a decade. Operation ENDURING FREEDOM follows close on the heels of Operation ALLIED FORCE, the 1999 NATO campaign that defeated, without friendly casualties, the Yugoslav military. In that conflict, as in the most recent one, exploitation of technological wherewithal proved a decisive factor in determining the victor.

The final triumph of the Pax Americana? Western intervention in Yugoslavia and Russia's debate on the post-Cold War order

This paper addresses the question of world order by considering how Western military actions in Yugoslavia were perceived from a different cultural perspective. It traces how the NATO-led bombing campaign during March–June of 1999 affected various visions of world order that had existed in Russia before the campaign and describes the discursive change this campaign produced. The argument is made that Russia's foreign policy elites, from Westernizers to Neo-Communists and Expansionists, perceived Western goals in Yugoslavia differently from their counterparts in the West. However, they differed in their recommendations regarding Russia's response and lessons to be drawn from the Kosovo crisis. The paper also identifies several points where the different perspectives can converge. More specifically, all Russian schools of thought viewed the NATO campaign as a dangerous precedent potentially destabilizing the existing world order. They also shared the conviction that Russia should play a larger role in world affairs and that without Russia's involvement there could be no peace and stability in the Balkans and in Europe. They point to the United Nations as the only forum for debating the legitimacy of military interventions and for preventing interventions carried out without the approval of the UN.

The NATO Campaign of Intervention in Kosovo on Humanitarian Grounds, and its Aftermath

Supplemental ways intended to improve international stability took a dramatic turn in Spring 1999 when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization launched an air assault against Serbian targets in the Kosovo and Serbian portions of the Republic of Serbia and against some Serb forces based in Montenegro. At the same time, the Serbs forcibly evicted from Kosovo most of its non-Serb (Albanian) inhabitants, who were then sheltered temporarily by the United Nations and non-governmental bodies. The aerial attacks lasted 78 days, when Serbian forces began their withdrawal from Kosovo. This SWIIS analysis draws some conclusions from this politically fragile, costly, and probably unsettled, disputed episode.

Military reform and strategic nuclear forces of the Russian federation

Russian Minister of Defense Marshal Igor Sergeyev has proposed merging the Strategic Rocket Forces and strategic nuclear components of the Navy and Air Force. Advocates of the proposed reform invoke Russia's need to increase its reliance on nuclear weapons in view of the decline in its conventional forces, as well as the potential savings from the merger. Critics of the plan view it as favoring the Strategic Rocket Forces at the expense of the rest of the military, and as prohibitively expensive. The NATO campaign in Kosovo has made Marshal Sergey ev vulnerable to criticism for emphasizing nuclear forces over conventional ones, and the plan has been put on hold.