Selected Lessons From Evaluations of Responses to Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Implications for the Kosovo Crisis

摘要

The Kosovo crisis now (mid-May 1999) embraces much of the Balkans one way or another. Various proposals are being mooted for international and regional action to secure a stable peace once the conflict has concluded. The length of the conflict, the extent of casualties and population displacement, the amount of physical destruction, the post-conflict sovereignty configuration, and the lingering political and social effects on the states most affected, are all unpredictable at this moment. The purpose of this note is to identify lessons drawn from evaluations of other complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) that might usefully be kept in mind while coping with the Kosovo crisis. Applicability of any individual lesson will depend, of course, on how the crisis develops, how it is resolved, and what post-conflict political architecture emerges.