Twenty Years of Crisis

The Yugoslav crisis brought armed conflict to the heart of Europe. It involved the dissolution of a state, internal armed conflict and external armed intervention, ethnic cleansing and probable genocide on a scale not seen since the second World War. These developments created complex challenges of state recognition, peace-keeping and peace enforcement, and humanitarian intervention. This book investigates the international responses to these developments from the beginning of the
crisis in 1988 to its provisional termination with the independence of Kosovo in 2008. The book critically examines the application of diplomatic and international legal tools to the dramatic events in the former Yugoslavia, and assesses the performance of the international agencies and governments
involved. Moreover, it considers the impact of the episode on our understanding of the legal rules governing self-determination and secession, internal armed conflict and external intervention.