the kosovo war.

The Kosovo War took place in the late 1990s between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, led by President Slobodan Milosevic, and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian separatist group. Kosovo, a region in southern Serbia, sought independence from Yugoslavia.

The war began in 1998 when the KLA launched attacks against Yugoslav security forces, with the aim of gaining Kosovo independence. Yugoslav forces responded with a brutal crackdown, including widespread human rights abuses, ethnic cleansing, and clear steps that laid the groundwork for a potential genocide.

International efforts to resolve the conflict, including diplomatic negotiations and economic sanctions, failed to bring about a peaceful resolution. In 1999, NATO launched a bombing campaign, without UN authorization, against Yugoslavia to stop the violence.

The campaign forced Milosevic to withdraw Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, and an interim United Nations administration (UNMIK) was established to govern the region. This remained in place until 2008 when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

Although the signs and build-up to a genocide were present, the intervention drove Milosevic and his administration out of Kosovo, and no genocide occurred beyond ethnic cleansing by displacement.

Exhibit A - Photograph of protest

(U.S. domestic populace perspective)

Ethnic Albanians (top) and anti-NATO demonstrators on opposite sides of 42nd Street in New York are kept apart by the police officers, March 27 (3 days after bombing started). The two groups traded insults during the noisy protest in front of New York's Grand Central Station.

There are two crowds in this picture, each on opposite sides of a road. One crowd is waving Yugoslav flags; the other crowd is waving Albanian flags. They are clearly facing each other, positioning themselves at odds with each other. Some in front of each crowd are visibly pointing at each other.

The lower crowd, holding Yugoslav flags, is protesting in opposition to the NATO intervention. This is because it includes many members holding signs saying:

BRING U.S. TROOPS & WAR PLANES HOME!

CLINTON “I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH SERBIA”

Jobs & Schools YES! Imperialist War NO!

Defend Yugoslavia STOP NATO bombing!

STOP THE BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA

Who are the aggressors? Pentagon & Wall Street!

CLINTON: How about a war against racism at home!

From these quotes from the signs, it is likely that the crowd is protesting in opposition to the NATO intervention. Many of the signs are identical, potentially suggesting that organisers/other people handed them out to demonstrators.

The upper crowd is holding Albanian flags. There are no signs, but it can be inferred that they are either a counter-protest to the anti-NATO demonstrators, or ethnic Albanians (who would most likely support the demonstration), because they are positioning themselves in an organised manner at odds with the Yugoslav flag crowd, and they are holding Albanian flags, and Kosovo Albanians are being persecuted by Yugoslavia.

Additionally, the Albanian side is blocked from the road with metal gates, and police tape is extensively put up to block the protestors. It is unclear whether that is also present on the Serbian side. There is also a heavy police presence on the Albanian side while far fewer officers can be seen on the Serbian side. Assuming that both sides are authorised protests (there is not much police on the Serbian side, and there is established police tape on the Albanian side), it is possible that the Albanians pro-intervention protestors are seen as more of a threat to public order.

Context

This is 42nd Street in New York. New York is known for having a “protest culture” – the largest protests on various global issues often take place in New York. It can be then inferred that public opinion is conflicted on this war: in the place most populated with protests, two contradictory ones are simultaneously occuring.

Significance

Firstly, this picture shows that there were demonstrations for and against the NATO intervention immediately after the bombing started. This picture implies that the public opinion was conflicted, but powerful in either direction: some were heavily in favor, some were heavily opposed (heavy because they cared enough to protest).

There are two equally large groups, one opposing the NATO intervention, the other supporting the NATO intervention, diametrically opposed. It implies that there is a stronger pro-intervention camp compared to other anti-war movements as “pro-war” movements inherently don’t draw as much vehement support due to lower levels of emotion. Serbians were leading the anti-NATO demonstration, while Albanians were leading the counter-protest, showing that the most vehement of supporters on both sides were those with a racial/ethnic interest.

Conclusion

People in the West were not unanimously or definitively for or against the international intervention – more conflicted. The Pew Research Center found that in March and April, public support in the U.S. stayed around an eerily constant 60-62%. Nonetheless, opinions were strong on both sides. The key implication here is that support was divided — intervention is polarising and controversial.

Exhibit B - NATO Report

(Perspective from NATO)

Summary of Section 1: Progress in Kosovo since the conflict

Due to the history of conflict within the region, the situation is far from settled and the international community must continue to have long-term engagement. Regardless of the severe problems, there are many positive signs – many things have improved since the deployment of KFOR.

Over 1,300,000 displaced peoples have returned to their homes – 810,000 from Albania and 550,000 internally displaced within Kosovo. Crime has fallen dramatically: Murder rate went from 50 per week to 5 perweek in a year.

KFOR actively helps the civilian community and the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to overcome the horrors of war and establish the foundations for a peaceful, tolerant, multi-ethnic society in the future. KFOR infrastructure work included clearing over 16,000 homes, 1,165 schools, and ~2,000 kilometres of roads, and distributing over 1 million roofing tiles, 18,000 stoves, 4,000 truckloads of firewood to Kosovar villages. 43,000+ Kosovars have received medical treatment in KFOR medical facilities.

50%+ of KFOR’s manpower is dedicated to protecting the minority (Serb) populations of Kosovo; calming ethnic tensions; guarding homes and villages; transporting people to schools and shops; patrolling; monitoring checkpoints; and protecting patrimonial sites.

Summary of Section 2: The Remaining Challenges

The UN Security Council mandates five goals for KFOR.

First, deterring renewed hostility and threats against Kosovo by Yugoslav and Serb forces – 40,000 KFOR troops in the region act as deterrent.

Second, establishing a secure environment and ensuring public safety and order. KFOR conducts 500-750 patrols per day; however personnel is a problem. Over 100 soldiers are protecting Serb families in Pristina.

Third, demilitarizing the Kosovo Liberation Army. Their fighting capability has been reduced: 10,000 weapons were handed in by December 1999. Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) was created by NATO, to assist in manmade or natural disasters; many former KLA fighters are finding jobs in the KPC. The responsibility still stands on ethnic communities to stand against ethnic division at all levels – this is crucial according to NATO.

Fourth, supporting the international humanitarian effort. KFOR and UNMIK successfully prepared a winterisation program, preventing the threat of widespread suffering, disease and death from winter. There was also progress in reopening the schools, with 300,000 children are being taught in their own language for the first time in a decade. Under Milosevic, speaking Albanian was banned in schools.

Fifth, assisting UNMIK. This is going poorly by the year 2000: there is not enough funding by NATO governments and the UN.

Summary of Section 3: Could it have been done better?

There were 5 main questions, answered by NATO:

Q: Was the international community too hardline in the Rambouillet talks, causing it to fail?

A: People say due to insisting any agreement be overseen by NATO, Yugoslavia would never agree. However, Milosevic’s record shows that foreign involvement is necessary as he has repeatedly failed to honor previous agreements. NATO still stood by protecting the rights and sovereignty of Yugoslavia.

Q: Were the actions justified without the Security Council?

A: Yugoslavia had previously violated previous UNSC resolutions The Secretary General was already warning about a lack of intervention. A SC resolution was unlikely to be reached in the near future. Therefore, this was the right thing to do to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

Q: Did NATO do enough to avoid collateral damage?

A: NATO ensured the relevance of each target, as well as the distance between target and civilians. Timing was heavily restricted to prevent collateral damage. According to Human Rights Watch (independent), <1% of the 10,000+ NATO strikes led to civilian deaths.

Q: Did the planes fly too high to be effective?

Context: NATO flew their planes really high, resulting in zero deaths on the coalition side

A: This didn’t impact the effectiveness as NATO weapons are almost like God (extremely powerful). Lack of casualties was important to ensure support on the NATO side (apart from the moral reasons).

Q: Did NATO’s air campaign itself cause the ethnic cleansing it intended to stop?

A: “President Milosevic’s ethnic cleansing in Kosovo was well prepared and rehearsed, as the OSCE/ODIHR report shows.” Later intelligence showed that Milosevic had a pre-planned strategy, named Operation Horseshoe, to drive the Kosovar Albanians out of Kosovo. The timely response of NATO reduced the effectiveness of this!

Conclusion

According to NATO, the intervention was effective at preventing a genocide and stopping ethnic cleansing. NATO and its interim mission is also making progress at rebuilding the country, one year on. The implication is almost entirely good.

KFOR troops entering Kosovo in June 1999 are greeted with flowers.

KFOR medal parade in Camp Novo Selo

General Klaus Reinhardt, Commander KFOR, accompanies NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson as he visits KFOR HQ in October 1999.

Exhibit C - Song by Kosovar

(Kosovo citizen perspective)

“Thank You USA” by Armend Miftari - MENDI, released on Apr 19, 2014.

A song written, produced and sung by artist Armend Miftari, a Kosovar living in Kosovo. He expresses his gratitude and love towards the US in a dramatic fashion.

Read the below line-by-line analysis while listening to the song!

Line-by-line analysis

Chorus

Thank you USA

Expressing gratitude to the US for intervening

You are my best friend

Singer/by extension Kosovo is appreciative of the US, to the extent of considering it their “best friend”.

You are the peace keeper

Emphasises that the US not only helped bring peace to Kosovo, but is the pivotal entity maintaining it – without the peace keeper, there is no peace.

You are the legend

The singer celebrates the US, calling it a “legend”.

A likely interpretation: this is similar to domestic war heroes being celebrated as legends.

Verse 1

Thank you USA

Stopping genocide

The singer credits the US for preventing a genocide from happening/escalating.

Helping small Kosova

Kosovo is depicted as small (and weak), and the U.S. is providing help to the vulnerable.

Stopping the wrong fight

The singer thanks the US for stopping an unjust war.

In 1999

Helping in Kosova

Two men shaking hands

Clinton and Rugova

Ibrahim Rugova was the president of Kosovo from 1992 to 2000. Shaking hands is a sign of support and allyship.

This verse provides recognition for what Bill Clinton did to help.

Verse 2

This work that we do

The way we thank you

This song that we sing

Memories will bring

"Memories will bring" refers to the memories of how the US helped Kosovo.

The memories are the things that bring “this work that we do”, “this song that we sing”, and “the way we thank you”. Because of the memories, Kosovars go to great lengths to do "this work" (e.g. the statue of Bill Clinton), sing grateful songs like this, and thank Americans graciously.

This shows that the memory of the US’ help is stil vivid, to the extent of creating displays of gratitude like this.

In so many countries

You are keeping peace

The gratitude is not just for Kosovo - the singer believes that around the world, the US helps maintain peace.

You are the life saver

You are pain release

The US is labelled a “life saver” and “pain release”, implying that it made the lives of Kosovars much better.

Summary

The singer expresses gratitude extremely profusely to the US for their successful intervention. He credits the US for keeping peace, saving lives, “stopping genocide”, and helping the vulnerable underdog (Kosovo). He also shouts out President Bill Clinton.

Overall Implication

The singer themself thinks very highly of the US. It is highly likely that this implies that general public opinion of the US in Kosovo is high, as the singer is likely an average citizen – this is corroborated given the context that Kosovo has consistently held high approval ratings of the US since 1999 (a 2018 Gallup poll found that 75% of Kosovo citizens strongly approve of the US).

This song provides insight into the general themes of why Kosovo appreciates America: stopping genocide, and saving Kosovars; additionally, Bill Clinton is widely appreciated. The former two is corroborated with logic and real-world events, while the existence of a Bill Clinton statue in Kosovo (as shown in the music video) corroborates the appreciation of Bill Clinton. Love for the US within Kosovo can be dramatic — to the extent of something like this.

This is a conventional piece of Kosovar culture, and it is integrated with gratitude for the West – which is potentially a sign of respect.

Conclusion

The implication of this is that by intervening in their genocide, Kosovars are extremely grateful - irrespective of the intervention’s success, the people loved it.