MANAGING THE KOSOVO CRISIS AND THE CHANGING DIMENSION OF WEST EUROPEAN SECURITY

This article analyzes the management of the 1999 Kosovo crisis and its profound impact on the changing dimensions of West European security. It examines the decision by the NATO alliance to launch a military intervention against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without a UN Security Council mandate, a landmark event in post-Cold War international relations. The study explores the doctrine of "humanitarian intervention" that was used to justify the war and the intense legal and political debates it generated. The research assesses the performance of the NATO air campaign and the subsequent deployment of a peacekeeping force (KFOR). The paper argues that the Kosovo crisis was a pivotal moment in the evolution of European security institutions, demonstrating both the military primacy of NATO and the relative weakness of the European Union as an independent security actor. The analysis concludes by reflecting on the long-term implications of the crisis for the principles of state sovereignty and the future of intervention.

The 1999 Kosovo crisis represented a defining moment for the post-Cold War security order in Europe. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the management of this crisis and its lasting impact. The study begins by detailing the origins of the conflict and the brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against the Kosovar Albanian population. The core of the article is an in-depth examination of the decision by NATO to intervene militarily. It analyzes the failure of diplomacy at the Rambouillet conference and the subsequent 78-day air war against Yugoslavia. A key focus is the controversial nature of the intervention, which was undertaken without the authorization of the UN Security Council, thereby raising fundamental questions about the legality and legitimacy of "humanitarian intervention." The paper argues that the crisis exposed a deep transatlantic divide on the use of force, while also highlighting the overwhelming military dependence of the European allies on the United States. The second part of the study assesses the aftermath of the war, including the deployment of the NATO-led KFOR mission and the establishment of a UN interim administration in Kosovo. The findings suggest that while the intervention was successful in its immediate humanitarian objective of stopping the ethnic cleansing and allowing the refugees to return, it also created a complex and unresolved political situation in the form of a de facto international protectorate. The paper concludes that Kosovo was a powerful, if controversial, demonstration of the new security challenges and the evolving role of NATO in post-Cold War Europe.