The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
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sary. Of course there were exceptions in situations in which western<br />
credibility was questioned. <strong>The</strong> intervention in Kosovo <strong>to</strong>o was not carried<br />
out because <strong>of</strong> the terrible situation <strong>of</strong> the Albanians, but because<br />
<strong>of</strong> the reputation <strong>of</strong> Na<strong>to</strong>, which had <strong>to</strong> show that it had teeth. After wait -<br />
ing for four years in Bosnia while terrible crimes were committed – in<br />
Srebrenica alone, Serbian units killed 8000 people within a few days –<br />
they now reacted promptly after the expulsion <strong>of</strong> the Albanian population<br />
from Kosovo. In 1992, there had been no common will <strong>to</strong> exert determined<br />
influence on the region. At Day<strong>to</strong>n in 1995, Miloševi even was<br />
considered a stabilizing fac<strong>to</strong>r for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Only in Kosovo<br />
did relations with him completely bread down.<br />
Of course, the open question is whether there might not have been<br />
means other than the bombing campaign. <strong>The</strong>se certainly had been avail -<br />
able, especially during the time prior <strong>to</strong> the outbreak <strong>of</strong> violence. But<br />
they weren’t used – as they had not been during the time when Hitler<br />
had led Europe <strong>to</strong> disaster. <strong>The</strong>n, Europe’s weakness made Hitler possible.<br />
This time, Europe didn’t take nationalism seriously once again, <strong>and</strong><br />
was surprised when it erupted in<strong>to</strong> brutality.<br />
Many mistakes were made; in particular, there was a lack <strong>of</strong> a uniform<br />
line <strong>of</strong> the western European countries, which for a while supported<br />
completely different sides <strong>and</strong> programmes. <strong>The</strong>re were controversial<br />
positions even within each country. For the British <strong>and</strong> French, fear <strong>of</strong> a<br />
Germany once again large <strong>and</strong> united was mixed with memories <strong>of</strong> the<br />
First <strong>and</strong> Second World Wars, which had been worked through psychologically.<br />
While the war raged in Yugoslavia, perhaps also in fear <strong>of</strong> it, a<br />
politically unified Europe was confirmed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl <strong>and</strong><br />
French President François Mitterr<strong>and</strong> in the Maastricht Treaty. Germany<br />
was in fact fairly reticent with regard <strong>to</strong> Yugoslav issues, perhaps so as<br />
not <strong>to</strong> endanger the reunification <strong>of</strong> Germany by alienating its Allies, who<br />
had not yet withdrawn from Germany. This sensible behaviour let the<br />
aftermath <strong>of</strong> the Second World War come <strong>to</strong> an end for Germany, while<br />
in Yugoslavia, everything that the people there had built up since 1945<br />
was destroyed in a chaos driven by nationalistic passions. People were<br />
dying in Sarajevo under fire from the surrounding mountains at the same<br />
time as the German Reichstag was wrapped in white cloth in a huge,<br />
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