Customer Reviews

Kosovo Intervention and United States Policy

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Brune offers a brief survey of Balkan history from control by the Romans to the Ottoman Turks up to present to elucidate the origins and persistence of its primary ethnic divisions. Particular emphasis is given to explain the historical conflict between the Albanians who remain a majority in Kosovo and the Serbians. Brune explains how Kosovo became the "holy place" of Serbian myth from which Serbs fought the Turks for independence in the 14th Century, an independence not realized until 1878. He examines how the Serbian mindset of being persecuted by external conquerors extends also to a widely held Serb belief that all Yugoslavian ethnic groups have also historically persecuted the Serbs, including the Albanians of Kosovo.

Brune does an excellent job of explaining how the various ethnic groups, which were brought together to form a Communist country (Yugoslavia) after World War II from 1945 - 1989, have vied on one hand to be part of the Yugoslavian Republic and on the other to have separate territorial and political status. He explains that while all of the ethnic groups of Yugoslavia have been aggressors against one another, the Serbs, culminating in the rule of Slovadon Milosovic and ethnic cleansing, exemplify the harzard to unity of one ethinic group seeking to dominate a country made of multiple, rooted ethnic groups.

Brune gives important attention to the role of the United States in resolving ethnic tensions in the area of the world in which World Wars I and II were sparked. Brune explains how the US's history of defining its intervention policy in terms of a concept of national interest prevented a more rapid, convicted and effective intervention strategy in Yugoslavia, particularly the Serb-Kosovar conflict, and weakened the chance of success of diplomatic accords to mediate the conflict without air bombings.

Brune's book illustrates globally the dilema between two distinct ideas for intervention: 1) Protection of the national interest, verses 2) Preservation of human rights. His analysis raises the larger question as to whether world politics should be premised upon the preservation of a standard of human rights rather than competition and pursuit of the interests of nation states.

Brune offers a brief survey of Balkan history from control by the Romans to the Ottoman Turks up to present to elucidate the origins and persistence of its primary ethnic divisions. Particular emphasis is given to explain the historical conflict between the Albanians who remain a majority in Kosovo and the Serbians. Brune explains how Kosovo became the "holy place" of Serbian myth from which Serbs fought the Turks for independence in the 14th Century, an independence not realized until 1878. He examines how the Serbian mindset of being persecuted by external conquerors extends also to a widely held Serb belief that all Yugoslavian etnic groups have also historically persecuted the Serbs, including the Albanians of Kosovo.

Brune does an excellent job of explaining how the various ethnic groups, which were brought together to form a Communist country (Yugoslavia) after World War II from 1945 - 1989, have vied on one hand to be part of the Yugoslavian Republic and on the other to have separate territorial and political status. He explains that while all of the ethnic groups of Yugoslavia have been aggressors against one another, the Serbs, culminating in the rule of Slovadon Milosovic and ethnic cleansing, exemplify the harzard to unity of one ethinic group seeking to dominate a country made of multiple, rooted ethnic groups.

Brune gives important attention to the role of the United States in resolving ethnic tensions in the area of the world in which the World Wars I and II were sparked. Brune explains the US's history of defining its intervention policy in terms of a concept of national interest prevented a more rapid, convicted and effective intervention strategy in Yugoslavia, particularly the Serb-Kosovar conflict, and weakened the chance of success of diplomatic accords to mediate the conflict without air bombings.

Brune's book illustrates globally the dilema between two distinct ideas for intervention: 1) Protection of the national interest, verses 2) Preservation of human rights. His analysis raises the larger question as to whether world politics should be premised upon the preservation of a standard of human rights rather than competition and pursuit of the interests of nation states.