Abstract
Between March and June of 1999 the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fought a widely discussed and contested air war against Serb forces that terrorized the Southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo. NATO justified the operation as a humanitarian intervention in defence of the Albanian population of Kosovo. This interpretation was disputed by some, but accepted by most. It re-ignited a heated debate in scholarly and policy-making circles about the legitimacy, opportunities for, and limits of, humanitarian intervention. Many pacifists turned out to support NATO’s actions. For them, the ends — the fight against an oppressive regime — justified the use of force. Others accused the Alliance of deeply troublesome double standards: While numerous wars — even worse in duration and scope — in many other parts of the world remain virtually unnoticed, an internal conflict in the backyard of Europe triggered a flood of compassion and commitment to external intervention. Moreover, some accused NATO of lawlessness: It waged its war against Yugoslavia without UN Security Council authorization.
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© 2001 Palgrave Publishers Ltd
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Schnabel, A. (2001). Playing with Fire: Humanitarian Intervention Post-Kosovo. In: Newman, E., Richmond, O.P. (eds) The United Nations and Human Security. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403900975_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403900975_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-42405-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-0097-5
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