yugoslavias implosion

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ChApter 5
the discrepancy between Western rhetoric and the West’s resolve
to achieve something on the ground. Every resolution passed was
ambiguous in that it gave unprofor no clear mandate to use force
as and when necessary. The restrictions, which undermined the
efficiency of the troops on the ground, were so numerous that the
security of their troops on the ground became the primary concern
of all the governments involved. For example, the mandate to ensure
the security of Sarajevo airport made no reference to Chapter VII.
The deployment of unprofor in Sarajevo was in consequence, the
report underlined, conducted in accordance with regular peacekeeping
rules. Without the cooperation of the parties involved, unprofor
was unable to provide for their security. Another illustrative
example concerns a Security Council resolution, which established
safe-heaven areas although the unprofor mandate did not include
any provision for their enforcement. Given a choice between 34,000
additional troops to effect deterrence through muscle and a “light
option” to deploy some 7,600 troops, the Security Council opted for
the latter.
Instead of supporting the newly emerging states, the eu sanctioned
the survival of the new mock “states” imposed by Belgrade
first in Croatia (Republika Srpska Krajina in 1991) and then in Bosnia
(Republika Srpska in 1992). The fact that the Yugoslav Army attacked
Slovenia and Croatia in June 1991 just three days after the departure
of u.s. secretary of state James Baker from Slovenia showed
that Milošević was confident that the u.s. threat to use military force
was not likely to be carried out. In 1995, the Dayton Accords actually
legitimized Republika Srpska. Serbia’s continuing policy of treating
Republika Srpska as a Belgrade proxy has made it impossible so far to
establish Bosnia and Herzegovina as a viable democratic state.“
The Yugoslav crisis revealed Europe’s “military incapacity and
political disarray.” Moreover, the Kosovo conflict exposed a transatlantic
gap in military technology and the ability to wage modern