Kosovo's Independence: The Final Political End State

摘要

Since June of 1999, the United States, along with allies from both NATO and non-NATO countries, has conducted peacekeeping operations in the Serbian province of Kosovo at the culmination of a decade-long, violent struggle between the ethnic Albanian majority population and the Serbian Government. After nearly four years of peacekeeping, Kosovo remains a province of Serbia under the watchful eye of both Kosovo Forces (KFOR), which now includes many non-NATO peacekeeping forces, and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The international community has yet to establish the final end state for Kosovo and the current UN mandate has no expiration date. Until that future is decided, Kosovo remains the final ember in the region where the historical fires of nationalistic hatred and ethnic violence ignited following the end of the Cold War. The intent of this paper, therefore, is to show why the U.S. must remain engaged in Kosovo by : presenting its relationship to our national interests; examining the U.S. Balkan policy and some of the options for a final end state; assessing the U.N. established conditions for success; and finally, concluding that the final political end state for Kosovo should be independence, once it achieves the goals established by the United Nations.