[Allie George] Assignment #1: Background on the Kosovo War

**DISCLAIMER: Please excuse me for any perceived ignorance in this post. Political relations are not my thing, since my background is in engineering, and engineering is, quite comfortably, black-and-white.

                To be honest, these past couple assignments have left me with far more questions than answers. After reading and re-reading most of these sentences more times than I would like to admit, I still struggle to keep straight which names are attached to which countries, and which points of view are associated with each of those peoples. My main triumph over these articles was that I was able to piece together the gist of how the conflict began. To the best of my understanding, here’s my elevator speech on the topic.

Map of the "changing borders" of Serbia, from
http://www.zonu.com/fullsize-en/2009-09-18-10139/Kosovo-Historical-Borders-Map-1913----1992.html

Kosovo is an area between Albania and Serbia. Initially the area belonged to Serbia, and Albania began to occupy it by the middle of the 20^th century. When Milosevic took over, he must have wanted the area to belong once more to Serbia, and began to push out the Albanians who lived there. The result of this was “humanitarian atrocities” by Milosevic’s people upon the Albanian population. In an effort to combat this, Albanian “rebels” formed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which sought to free Kosovo from such oppression by creating an independent, democratic state. The return force against the KLA was the beginnings of the Kosovo War. NATO chose to back the KLA forces in an effort to prevent an ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population. The event was not a true genocide because the Serbs were mainly trying to expel them from the land. NATO wanted to protect the people of Kosovo, but also did not want to allow an independent Kosovo (meaning a Kosovo that was not part of Serbia or Albania).

                The burning question that I’m still left with is why? Why did this animosity against the Albanians exist? Was it simply due to their physical presence within Serbian borders? General Charles Krulak answered in response to the question of who actually won the war that there was less of a clear winner and more of the fact that “Our people on the ground put into effect a peace-keeping solution that is holding age-old ethnic cultural religion hatreds in check.” Why did those ethnic, cultural, and religious hatreds even exist in the first place? And who actually was the most successful if the passions of neither of the parties involved were entirely satisfied?

                I think what I came back to the most while my mind wandered amongst the names, dates, and places that I couldn’t pronounce was about the people who were left to clean up after this seemingly senseless mess. Countless people were displaced, their families killed, their lives shattered…and for what? Too many lives were lost simply as collateral damage. From the non-governmental organization (NGO) side of things, I can only grow more frustrated. I have a decent bit of experience in the development sector by this point, so I know how much effort it takes to repair a simple dirt road, put in a borehole well, and deliver provisions where they are needed most. While these efforts are admirable, I wonder again why we must be put in a position, again and again, where they are necessary. The re-building efforts in Kosovo are definitely something I’ll have to look into for future writings.

Kosovar Refugees, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/unhcr/4246890819/in/photostream/

                I attended a conference on social change recently, and came back with an important takeaway. Social change can, to some extent, be divided into two categories: first- and second-degree change. Second-degree change is “treating the symptoms”. In the example of the ethnic tensions in this region, that would mean bombing villages, physically confronting the people carrying out these “cleansing actions”, etc. But first-degree change aims right for the source. This refers to getting down to the root of the problem – figuring out why these tensions existed in the first place. THIS is then the problem that must be addressed. It is this type of change that is sustainable in the end, and really makes a difference. Which kind of social change did this war actually succeed in bringing about?

I don’t think I’ll ever understand politics…