Richard Caplan

Europe and the recognition of new states in Yugoslavia

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The ECs recognition policy: origins and terms of reference 2. Recognition of states: legal thinking and historic practice 3. International law, international relations and the recognition of states 4. EC recognition of new states in Yugoslavia: the strategic consequences 5. Political conditionality and conflict management Conclusion Appendices: EPC Declaration on the Recognition of New States in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union (16 December 1991) EPC Declaration on Yugoslavia (16 December 1991) Treaty Provisions for the Convention (at 4 November 1991) Bibliography Index.

International Diplomacy and the Crisis in Kosovo

This article examines key elements of international diplomacy and the Kosovo crisis. From very early on, it is shown, the Kosovar Albanians were accorded differential treatment by the international community in relation to the other national minorities of the former Yugoslavia. Whether warranted or not, this approach helped ensure that Kosovo would fail to become a major international concern, thus allowing the conflict to smoulder for years. The explosion of pent-up frustration we are witnessing today in Kosovo is only one consequence of these actions. Another is that the scope for moderate solutions has narrowed. Genuine democratization of Serbia may enlarge the political space required to restore credibility to compromise solutions but the prospects for such a development in the short term are weak. The international community favours a solution to the conflict which would preserve Serbia’s territorial integrity, just as it did earlier with respect to Yugoslavia. But if the Albanians’ desire for independence cannot be sublimated or if the granting of autonomy to Kosovo is used as a cover for the Serbian leadership to pursue its campaign of violence, then persistent opposition to any adjustments to Yugoslavia’s boundaries may be a prescription for further tragedy in the region.

Who guards the guardians? international accountability in Bosnia

This essay discusses the accountability of international actors within the Dayton framework. It argues that the international administration of Bosnia-Herzegovina suffers from an accountability deficit – a deficit that appears all the more acute as the Dayton peace agreement approaches its ten-year anniversary. Limited accountability does not mean the total absence of mechanisms for local scrutiny but, as is analysed here, these mechanisms are extremely limited. While international territorial administrations are not representative democracies, and in important respects should not be held to the standards of a liberal democratic state, more effort can and should be made to ensure a greater degree of accountability to the local population. The essay concludes with some suggestions as to how this could be achieved.

Partner or patron? International civil administration and local capacity-building

This article examines the civil administrative functions of contemporary international territorial administrations and explores the relationship between civil administration and local capacity-building. While the importance of building local capacity is widely recognized, in practice it is often given too little emphasis because international authorities are inclined to rely on international agencies and personnel to ensure that civil administration is conducted competently and in conformity with the requirements of a missions mandate. A better balance needs to be struck between the demands for effective and efficient administration in the short term and the strengthening of local capacity in the longer term if international administrations are not to leave behind weak states or territories as a part of their legacy.

From collapsing states to neo-trusteeship: the limits to solving the problem of ‘precarious statehood’ in the 21st century

Abstract Is neo-trusteeship an appropriate response to the challenge of ‘precarious statehood’? To the extent that contemporary trusteeship-like arrangements have been at all successful, it is questionable how much utility they may have beyond the few cases to which they have been applied. There are alternatives to neo-trusteeship, some of which employ similar principles (notably ‘shared sovereignty’), but, like neo-trusteeship, they require a consensus between local and international actors to succeed. Their limitations notwithstanding, what may most recommend arrangements of this kind in future is simply that they can represent the least worst option, if not sometimes the best hope, for easing a territorys transition from war, injustice and dependence to peace, basic human rights and relative independence in the context of the changing international order of the post-cold war era.

Exit strategies and state building

Contributors Acknowledgments 1. Exit Strategies and State Building: Richard Caplan Colonial Administrations 2. Exit and Colonial Administrations: John Darwin 3. Senegal: Tony Chafer 4. Indonesia: Hendrik Spruyt Peace Support Operations 5. Exit and Peace Support Operations: William J. Durch 6. Sierra Leone: A. Sarjoh Bah 7. Haiti: Johanna Mendelson Forman International Administrations 8. Exit and International Administrations: Dominik Zaum 9. Kosovo: Ben Crampton 10. East Timor: Anthony Goldstone Military Occupations 11. Exit and Military Occupations: Gregory H. Fox 12. Gaza: Joel Peters 13. Iraq: Toby Dodge Thematic Issues 14. Competing Normative Visions of Exit: Ralph Wilde 15. The Political Economy of Exit: Michael Pugh 16. After Exit: The UN Peacebuilding Architecture: Richard Ponzio 17. Policy Implications: Richard Caplan Index

Assessing the Dayton Accord: The structural weaknesses of the general framework agreement for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina ‐ the Dayton Accord — brought a formal end to the war in Bosnia, but the prospects for an enduring peace remain uncertain. One of the obstacles to peace is the accord itself. This article outlines the main provisions of the agreement and then examines its structural weaknesses. These weaknesses, it is argued, though significant, may not be insuperable. There is broad scope for interpretation of the treatys terms and for innovation within its framework. Its effectiveness in the long term will depend in part on whether the implementing powers succeed in exploiting this potential.

After Exit: Successor Missions and Peace Consolidation

Devising exit strategies is a challenge for all peace operations but a particular challenge for international territorial administrations (ITAs). Given the scope of the remit of ITAs and the long-term developmental needs of the territories they administer, the withdrawal of international authorities risks leaving weak embryonic institutions in their wake. This article focuses on the importance of follow-on measures – a role for which regional organisations may be particularly well suited – to reinforce positive achievements and to ensure against slippage. It looks at the extent to which such thinking is reflected in actual practice and assesses the effectiveness of successor missions where they have been employed.

European Organizations and the Governance of Ethnocultural Diversity after the Cold War: The Yugoslav “Laboratory”

The post–Cold War period to date has witnessed renewed international and especially European preoccupation with issues pertaining to ethnocultural diversity and the challenges for governance arising from these issues. This article discusses the shift that has occurred in support of national minority rights in Europe and why European organizations have become more concerned with these rights after the Cold War. It examines some of the major policy initiatives adopted by European organizations in response to the nearly 25-year long Yugoslav crisis and what these initiatives reveal about new (and old) thinking within these organizations with respect to national minority rights and the management of ethnocultural diversity more generally. It also discusses the consequences of these initiatives for minority rights protection and some of their broader implications for European policy in the future.

The European community's recognition of new states in Yugoslavia: The strategic implications

The ECs recognition of new states in former Yugoslavia is considered by most analysts to have seriously aggravated the conflict in the region. This article challenges the conventional wisdom and argues that the strategic effects of recognition have been largely overstated. The prospect of recognition played no significant role in the Slovene determination to sustain their campaign for independence and therefore bears little responsibility for the first phase of the war. In Croatia, recognition ‐ together with the deployment of UN peacekeepers ‐ may even have had a mitigating effect. Only in Bosnia is there any correlation between recognition and an intensification of hostilities but it is doubtful whether non‐recognition would have prevented the eruption of violence since Bosnian Serb aspirations for an ethnically homogeneous state entity could not be realised without resort to war. The real relevance of recognition lies with the opportunities for more effective international action which it created. It ...