Internationalization of Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans: The Breakup of Yugoslavia

Abstract

The breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s was the first challenge to the international system in the post—Cold War period. By the time the process of breaking up was completed, including wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, five new states of what was once Yugoslavia emerged. The Yugoslav case is an excellent one to examine both the diffusion and escalation of ethnic conflict. In terms of diffusion, as ethnic tensions mounted in the 1980s and 1990–1991, the conflict spread first from Slovenia, then to Croatia, and finally to Bosnia, culminating in a three-year war that ended with the Dayton Accord of 1995. The conflict escalated as other states and non-state actors became involved as Yugoslavia was breaking up. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conditionality in the 1980s and the end of the Cold War adversely affected Yugoslavia’s economy and strategic position, respectively. Efforts by outside actors such as the Conference on the Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), European Community (EC), and United Nations (UN) in dealing with the impending and continuing crisis further indicate the escalation of the conflict.

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