New solution for old problem : reviewing the international peace-building experiment in Kosovo
Author
Sejdiu, Bekim Enver
Advisor
Ünal, Hasan
Date
2005Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
This thesis analyzes the prospects for solution of the protracted Kosovo problem,
through the international peace-building mission launched in 1999. It confronts the
basic premises upon which is constructed the peace-building concept, the latter
viewed in the context of peace operation techniques, with the nature of the ethnic
conflict of Kosovo. The thesis argues that implementation of socioeconomic and
political transformations along the model of capitalist liberal democracy, which is
the underlying strategy of peace-building missions, is not sufficient condition for
the solution of the Kosovo problem. This assumption is based on two arguments.
First, the international peace-building operation in Kosovo does not tackle the very
root of the Kosovo problem, namely the question of political/legal status of the
territory, nor it offers any clear prospect for solving this issue. Second, this
operation leaves intact the direct cause of the violent expression of the Kosovo
problem, namely the aggressive Serbian nationalism and the particular
sociopolitical context which gave rise to it. The thesis argues that there can be no
viable solution for the final status of Kosovo, which would contradict the will of the majority of its population. Finally, the thesis suggests that the stability and
prosperity of the Western Balkans, including the democratic transformation of
Serbia, which is of crucial importance in this regard, are indivisibly dependent
from the incorporation of this region under the umbrella of Euro-Atlantic political,
economic and security structures.
Keywords
Kosovo conflictHistory
Myth
Serbian nationalism
Peace-building
Liberalism
Euro-Atlantic integrations