Nikolas K. Gvosdev. “Kosovo and Its Discontents”. Foreign Affairs. January/February 2006 – “The United States insists that the Kosovo case is unique, but others are by no means obliged to see things Washington’s way. Indeed, it is difficult to see how the Kosovo precedent can be limited. The case for independence rests on two foundations: first, that the revocation of the province’s ethnoterritorial autonomy in 1989 created a legitimate case for armed rebellion and ultimate separation, and second, that Kosovo’s de facto independence for the past six years should be recognized de jure to end the province’s nebulous status. Could not Nagorno-Karabakh make the same case vis-a-vis Azerbaijan? Or Abkhazia in relation to Georgia? Will Kurdistan or southern Sudan cite a Kosovo precedent to support their bids for independence in a decade’s time? And how long before members of the U.S. Congress begin to argue that Taiwan, another “breakaway” province that, like Kosovo, has enjoyed de facto independence, should be recognized as a sovereign state?”
Nikolas K. Gvosdev. “Kosovo and Its Discontents”. Foreign Affairs. January/February 2006 – “The United States insists that the Kosovo case is unique, but others are by no means obliged to see things Washington’s way. Indeed, it is difficult to see how the Kosovo precedent can be limited. The case for independence rests on two foundations: first, that the revocation of the province’s ethnoterritorial autonomy in 1989 created a legitimate case for armed rebellion and ultimate separation, and second, that Kosovo’s de facto independence for the past six years should be recognized de jure to end the province’s nebulous status. Could not Nagorno-Karabakh make the same case vis-a-vis Azerbaijan? Or Abkhazia in relation to Georgia? Will Kurdistan or southern Sudan cite a Kosovo precedent to support their bids for independence in a decade’s time? And how long before members of the U.S. Congress begin to argue that Taiwan, another “breakaway” province that, like Kosovo, has enjoyed de facto independence, should be recognized as a sovereign state?”
Raju G.C. Thomas. “The Case Against Kosovo Independence. Nations with concentrated ethnic minorities have reason to be anxious.” Japan Times Online. Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 – “More broadly, to allow Kosovo’s independence would demonstrate that violent secessionism works. In that case, the world ought to get used to seeing the Kosovo “strategy” applied elsewhere: First, faceless ethnic secessionists attack civilians and police. Not knowing where the enemy is hidden within the civilian population, security forces retaliate indiscriminately. Human rights violations elicit an international outcry and condemnation, followed by intervention and occupation by foreign military forces. And, in the denouement, the state loses control of its province as the secessionists declare independence.
Setting such a precedent in Kosovo must be avoided to ensure stability not only in the Balkans, but in all countries with dissatisfied ethnic minority populations. The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia must be preserved in accordance with the United Nations Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Agreement Final Act guaranteeing the boundaries of Europe, and U.N. Resolution 1244 of 1999, which guaranteed Serbia’s existing borders.”
Though Russia backed the emergence of those rebel territories, all four of which won wars of secession against their ex-Soviet parent states in the early 1990s, Moscow has never recognized their independence. Experts say that Russia, a multiethnic federation with an active separatist rebellion of its own in Chechnya, has good reasons to support the status quo. But the looming Kosovo verdict could tip the balance in favor of insurgent minorities, they warn.”
Videos
“Kosovo independence to spark chain reaction in Caucasus?” Posted on YouTube, December 26th, 2007[1]
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