Kosovo - the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end?: effects of the Kosovo war on NATO's viability, US commitments to NATO, European Defense cooperation?

Abstract

NATO's humanitarian intervention in Kosovo had a positive impact on long-term viability of the Alliance because it confirmed that NATO was able to redefine itself not only as the core of an enlarged and reshaped security community, but also as a suitable tool for crisis-management in the Euro- Atlantic region. Furthermore, the experiences of the humanitarian intervention demonstrated that the Alliance remains and should remain the central element of the European "security architecture." The Kosovo war reaffirmed the United States' commitments to NATO, and reinforced the positions of the US in the new transatlantic bargain with its European NATO allies Moreover, in spite of the emergence of the ESDI in NATO and the CFSP in EU, the US remained one of the most crucial players in Europe, on which NATO's credibility is founded. On the other hand, political and military experiences of the multilateral peace operation called attention to the importance of NATO's further internal and external adaptation. The above experiences gave new impetus to debates on a more appropriate future distribution of responsibilities, costs and risks among NATO allies; called for a more pragmatic division of labor between multiple institutions of the European "security architecture" (NATO, OSCE, WEU, EU), and raised new demands for revision and further improvement of basic principles of the ESDI and the CFSP.