Word: bosnia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...article of faith the idea that conflicts are best settled by dialogue and diplomacy, with war reserved as a last resort. In Europe, the past is always present. Retired British General Sir Mike Jackson, the former British army chief who commanded NATO forces in Kosovo and U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia, notes that "it is easy to be disparaging about Germany's contribution, but one shouldn't underestimate ... the sight of German soldiers in far-flung corners evoking unpleasant memories...
This gulf between moralism and militarism narrowed in the 1980s and '90s. Under Ronald Reagan, conservatives grew more optimistic about exporting American values as they saw democracy spread in the Third World. And under Bill Clinton, liberals became more warlike, backing humanitarian interventions in Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo...
That makes sense. Moralism and military force are both necessary to U.S. foreign policy, but the former shouldn't ride the latter into battle. The U.S. military can help stop ethnic cleansing, as it did in Bosnia and Kosovo, or safeguard the world's oil supplies, as it did in the first Gulf War, but it's not designed to build democracy. You can't do open-heart surgery with a chainsaw...
...this straight: Serbia and Montenegro were all that remained of Yugoslovia after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina seceded during the Balkan Wars of the '90s. Then Montenegro declared independence in 2006. Kosovo seceded from Serbia last Sunday, and now the northern region of Kosovo wants to secede and rejoin Serbia. I don't have a dog in this latest fight - or even understand it much - but if someone wants to quit the firm, it seems to me you ought to let him go. The tension arises, of course, because the ones eyeing the door usually want to take...
...Just like its slightly older siblings - Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro - Kosovo rose from the ashes of the former Yugoslavia, whose destruction was caused by the brutal policies of Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic. But there are key differences. Unlike the others, Kosovo was not a Yugoslav republic, but an autonomous province within Serbia. It is mostly populated by ethnic Albanians, while the other post-Yugoslav states have Slavic majorities. And Kosovo has been effectively ruled by the United Nations since 1999, when Milosevic's troops were forced to pull out under NATO bombs, although Serbia was allowed to retain...