Why Kosovo? The Anatomy of a Needless War - CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES

The Balkans in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries In 1800, the Balkans were divided between the Austro- Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, with Croatia and the lands north of the Danube belonging to the former, while Bosnia, Serbia and lands further south belonged to the latter. [...] CCPA 5 The 1875-8 war resulted in independence for Bulgaria, minor increases in the territories of Serbia and Montenegro, and the occupation of Bosnia and Hercegovina by the Austrians; but the Ottoman Empire remained in possession of much of the Balkans. [...] The internal weaknesses of Yugoslavia were exacerbated by the irresponsible actions of Western governments in recognizing the independence of the breakaway republics instead of working to preserve the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. [...] The effects of the structural adjustment program are still being felt, for implementing the economic reforms played a role in the most notorious action of the Serbian government against the Albanian residents of Kosovo (at least in the American telling)—namely, the revocation of autonomy in 1989. [...] The great power objectives fiinrsctlu, de, the extension of American power into Eastern Europe, accomplished in the North by adding Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to NATO, and accomplished in the Balkans with the war against Yugoslavias;e cond ,undermining the authority of international organizations like the UN that have thwarted U.