A History of the War in the Balkans 1991-2002 by R. Craig Nation

Author:R. Craig Nation
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: This study is one of very few works that attempts to look at the war as a whole It emphasizes the impact of the conflict upon the entire Balkan region_ the dynamics of international intervention_ and the special role of the U.S. armed forces., Army, balkans, balkan, conflict, bosnia-herzegovina, kosovo, macedonia, sfor, ifor, milosevic, dayton, humanitarian, intervention, War, in, the, Balkans, 1991-2002, Dr., R., Craig, Nation, Dr., R., Craig, Nation, bosnia, Middle, East, Middle, East, North, Africa, Eastern, Europe, Asia, Emerging, Concepts, Strategic, Futures, Leadership, Military, Profession, National, Security, Policy, Strategy
Publisher: Perennial Press

Military action was paralleled by aU.S. led diplomatic initiative. 133 An outline of the U.S. “Endgame Strategy” was presented to key European allies and the Russian Federation by ahigh-level delegation led by National Security Advisor Anthony Lake during awhirlwind tour through London, Paris, Bonn, Rome, Sochi (a Russian Black Sea resort), Madrid, and Ankara in the second week of August. The plan proposed a comprehensive settlement for the Bosnian crisis that included maintaining a unitary Bosnia-Herzegovina with a capital at Sarajevo, that would be internally divided between “entities” representing the Croat-Muslim federation and the Republika Srpska defined territorially according to the Contact Group plan. The project was made in the United States but welcomed by the allies, no doubt overjoyed to ride behind forceful American leadership. Moscow’s public reactions were harshly critical — a parliamentary resolution condemned the “genocide” being perpetrated against the Serbs, and Yeltsin remarked that NATO actions in the Balkans could “ignite the flames of war in Europe.” 134 But Russia had failed in the effort to impose constraint, and its protests had no visible effect. Yeltsin sought to restore his damaged credibility by offering to sponsor a summit conference bringing Yugoslav leaders together in Moscow, but the session was not looked upon favorably in Washington and was never convened. 135 In the original itinerary for Lake’s tour of Europe, Russia was not even placed on the agenda. 136

The next step was to sell the project to Balkan regional leaders, a task assigned to the forceful Richard Holbrooke, uninvolved in the genesis of the project but respected for his toughness. Between August and November, Holbrooke led a team of U.S. diplomats on a diplomatic shuttle between Balkan capitals that was successful in clarifying details of the project to the interested parties, and eventually, with the help of a good deal of head banging, bringing them on board. 137

On 5 October Clinton was able to announce a 60-day ceasefire, to be accompanied by the creation of a NATO-led Peace Implementation Force (IFOR). The stage was now set for the proximity talks conducted under strict U.S. supervision at Dayton, Ohio from November 1-21. No leniency was granted to the warring factions. Though present during the deliberations, the Bosnian Croat and Serb delegates were not permitted to function as direct parties in the talks —their interests were represented by Zagreb and Belgrade. Remarkably, at the 11th hour Milošević intervened personally to break a logjam by agreeing to assign all of Sarajevo and a portion of the outlying hills, including districts that the Serb faction had controlled from the outset of fighting, to the Muslims. 138 The critical issue of control over the Brčko choke point, which could not be resolved by consensus, was placed into the hands of international arbitrators. When all else failed, strong-arm tactics were an option— Izetbegović had to be physically coaxed by U.S. negotiators to sign the document acknowledging the existence of the Republika Srpska. 139 Such methods were crude but effective. The Dayton Peace Accord was initialed at the conclusion of the conference, and formally signed in Paris on December 14.

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