Nato And The Western Balkans

This book provides a critical examination of NATO’s evolving strategic and operational roles in the Western Balkans since the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991, with a particular focus on Bosnia, Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in both the conflict and post-conflict phases. While there is a myriad of literature available on the various conflicts that engulfed the former Yugoslavia after the collapse of communism, less has been written on NATO’s overall role in these conflicts. This text, therefore, fills the gap, offering a thematic study of NATO’s roles and duties in this region from the early 1990s to the present day. The ‘levels of analysis’ introduced by Mulchinock provide a new framework for examining NATO’s response to the Yugoslav wars of secession, focusing on the role of key NATO member states and the role of different NATO Secretaries-General, along with the impact of inter-institutional cooperation (and conflict) with other international organisations.

"Official relations between the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) newly began after the establishment of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in 1999. Before that we can not talk about formal relations between the two organizations." So in this Book, we will describe the historical development of EU-NATO relations from post-Cold War (1990) until the Berlin Plus agreement in 2002, and will analyze this agreement which is considered as the core of the relationship between the two organizations. In addition, we will examine the military missions which were carried out under Berlin Plus agreemnt (Operation Concordia, which took place in the former Yugoslavs Republic of Macedonia in March 2003) and (Operation Althea, which took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004), in order to understand if the Berlin Plus agreement applied or not, and to know whether there was real cooperation between them or not.

As we reach its 60th anniversary, NATO a security alliance of 28 countries from North America and Europe - remains the principal security instrument of the transatlantic community and the expression of its common democratic values. However, the NATO today is not longer that of 1949. After the collapse of communism and the Soviet Union, NATO had to reinvent itself politically for the initial challenges of the post-Cold War era. In the space of a decade NATO successfully transformed itself from a North American-Western European Alliance focused exclusively on territorial defence into a pan-European institution with new members stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. NATO s missions have changed and its structures have been reformed accordingly. It has had to adapt to the changing world and changing threats such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, transnational trafficking, piracy, cyber attacks or climate change. Sixty years after its foundation NATO has not become rusty or outdated. On the contrary, in the new security environment its role has increased. NATO remains the pre-eminent institutional framework for the USA, Canada and Europe not just to consult together, but also to act together. NATO s key stabilising role in the Balkans and, more recently, in Afghanistan; its role in fighting terrorism; and the continuing interest on the part of several nations in joining NATO, all demonstrate that the Alliance is very much in demand. The Post-Cold War enlargement and the Alliance s future reflects upon NATO s achievements and setbacks at the time that explores the challenges that lie ahead in the future of the most successful military Alliance of the modern Euro-Atlantic history and beyond. This book is a must-have for those interested in international relations, global security and defence issues. IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields. Some of the areas we publish in: -Biomedicine -Oncology -Artificial intelligence -Databases and information systems -Maritime engineering -Nanotechnology -Geoengineering -All aspects of physics -E-governance -E-commerce -The knowledge economy -Urban studies -Arms control -Understanding and responding to terrorism -Medical informatics -Computer Sciences

The Clinton administration and the other NATO governments boast that the alliance won a great victory in its war against Yugoslavia.

Examines NATO's Balkan interventions over the entire decade starting with the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992. Focusing on the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, it traces the record of early transatlantic failures and later successes as once bitterly divided allies were able, finally, to unite around some basic principles. By the time of the Kosovo intervention in spring 1999, the allies agreed on the necessity of taking sides and using military force in conflicts that were complicated, but far from morally opaque. The book concludes with some lessons around which the transatlantic allies might reasonably hope - despite other pressing concerns - to stay engaged and stay united.

Focusing on NATO's continued crisis of identity, Joyce P. Kaufman argues that the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo have proven to be critical to an alliance that has not been able to define its roles and missions in the post-Cold War world. While, on the one hand, NATO was enlarging by inviting former adversaries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to join, on the other hand it has been woefully unprepared to deal with the ethnic conflicts that erupted on its borders and that could undermine the peace and stability of Europe. The author contends that the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia have potentially threatened the essence of NATO by forcing the alliance to take on the new role of peacekeeper without adequately allowing the members to examine the role the alliance wants to or should play in a largely postcommunist world. Despite ongoing discussion in NATO ministerial summits, the alliance has made little progress to date and public questions about the role and even the viability of NATO after the Cold War continue to grow. The inability to address these issues leaves NATO facing a number of pressing questions that this book tries to answer: What role can and should the alliance play in the future? And why have the ongoing conflicts in the Balkans proven to be a challenge that the alliance has been unwilling or unable to resolve?

Despite all efforts to create a political union capable of improving European citizens’ quality of life, there are several barriers to the European Union’s (EU) expansion to the Balkan Region. The EU enlargement and expansion to the Balkan Region is one of the Union’s greatest challenges and political objectives in recent years. In the turmoil of economic, social, and sanitarian crises, where is the space to debate the enlargement of the EU? Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region presents the EU’s structure, the process of enlargement, and the challenges related to the Balkan region. This book addresses critical issues and challenges in the EU and the emerging trends for the EU’s future. Covering topics such as enlargement policy, integration, NATO, and political challenges, this book is a valuable resource for post-grad students of political science and international affairs, faculty of higher education, researchers, academicians, politicians, world leaders, and policymakers.

A report of the CSIS Lavrentis Lavrentiadis Chair in Southeast European Studies.