yugoslavias implosion

Despite failing to secure victory in the wars of the 1990s—including
in Kosovo—the Army still enjoys a powerful position within Serbia.
Political leaders continue to try to exonerate the Serbian military
from responsibility for war crimes, and the Army as an institution
continues to enjoy the confidence of the people.
CHAPTER 3 deals with the Albanian question, which Serbia tried
to “solve” during most of the twentieth century by assimilation,
repression, ethnic cleansing, and division. State terror gradually radicalized
the Albanian population, alienating moderate Albanians who
had sought to find a political compromise within Yugoslavia, and
boosting popular support for the idea of secession. In 1981, Albanian
demonstrations in Kosovo gave Serbian nationalists a pretext for
raising the Serbian national question and fomenting Serbian nationalist
sentiments. The ypa pushed its way onto the political stage and
virtually occupied Kosovo. Milošević, who had risen to power on a
nationalist tide generated by the Kosovo myth, abolished Kosovo’s
autonomy by force in 1990. The challenge to Serbian rule posed from
1996 by the Kosovo Liberation Army, an Albanian guerrilla group,
was met by repression by Serbian security forces, which in turn
prompted nato intervention in 1999.
After the nato intervention, Belgrade systematically widened
the gap between the Serbian and Albanian communities in Kosovo.
The strategy of the Belgrade regime—not only Milošević but also his
successor, Vojislav Koštunica—proceeded along two tracks: negating
and undermining the international mission and preparing to
partition Kosovo. The Kosovo Serbs, especially those in the north,
continued to be manipulated and used to destabilize Kosovo. As the
Belgrade regime became increasingly isolated, various forces worked
to protect local Serbs and prevent their expulsion while constantly
pressing for cantonization.
The partition of Kosovo was incorporated into the state policy
of the fry, playing into the hands of the nationalists. The Serbs’
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IntroduCtIon