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Argument: Ethnic divisions make an independent Kosovo the most viable

Issue Report: Kosovo independence

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  • Charles Kupchan, Senior fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations, “Independence for Kosovo”, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2005 – “[H]arsh realities on the ground make independence for Kosovo the only viable option. In the current state of limbo, relations between the Albanian majority, which is mostly Muslim, and the Serbian minority, which is mostly Orthodox Christian, have reached the boiling point. The Albanian leadership in Pristina, which governs Kosovo in an uneasy partnership with UN authorities, wants nothing to do with Belgrade. Kosovo has already left Serbia’s orbit. And throughout the area, walls of hostility divide ordinary Albanians and Serbs. In spirit as well as fact, multiethnic society is nowhere to be found.”
  • Daniel Byman, Senior Fellow of Saban Center for Middle East Policy. “An Independent Kosovo: Understanding the Risks”. 2000 – “The conflict seems to have ‘hardened’ the Kosovar Albanians’ identity as a distinct people. Because of the bloodshed, creating a civic identity that embraces different ethnic groups appears impossible. Kosovar Albanians have no patience for Kosovar Serbs and other minorities. This problem is common after an ethnic civil war. As Chaim Kaufmann argues, ‘…in ethnic wars both hypernationalist mobilization rhetoric and real atrocities harden ethnic identities to the point that cross-ethnic political appeals are unlikely to be made and even less likely to be heard.'”

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