James Dobbins, Special Advisor to the President
and Secretary of State for Kosovo
and Dayton Implementation.

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On June 16, 1999, Ambassadors James Dobbins and Jeane Kirkpatrick spoke at a Current Issues Briefing on the peace settlement in Kosovo.

According to Dobbins, Kosovo should be the last chapter of a successful effort to eradicate extreme nationalism in Europe -- or, it could be the first test of a new, more militant NATO. The task for the U.S. Administration is to use its collective knowledge and experience on peace operations to ensure that Kosovo is NATO's last Balkans military operation. This will not be easy, said Kirkpatrick, as multilateral operations, especially those conducted by committee (as was the NATO bombing campaign) are extremely complex and unwieldy.

Dobbins felt that lessons learned from Somalia and Bosnia will ensure Kosovo's success. We understand the importance of a strong civilian component -- one that is as robust and organized as the international military presence -- if we are to rebuild civil society and jump start the economy. Training an indigenous police force is key to transitioning from an international-led peace implementation program to an indigenous-led peace implementation program. Working with NATO and local Albanian leaders, the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) will have full reign to investigate and prosecute war criminals. With Rambouillet as its template, the Clinton Administration plans to have a functioning, indigenous self-government in Kosovo within 18 months.

As for the other party in the crisis, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), Dobbins indicated that the United States will permit humanitarian assistance to Serbia, which, if dispersed through local humanitarian organizations, may strengthen grassroots political movements and the democratic opposition political movements. The difficulty lies in differentiating between humanitarian aid and development assistance, which is prohibited until Mr. Milosevic leaves office. Montenegro, however, will be the beneficiary of significant economic assistance from the West. Dobbins sees Montenegro as the leading edge of democracy in the FRY. Dobbins was quick to emphasize, however, that the aim is not to detach Montenegro from Serbia, but to bolster the Djukanovic regime as a "safe haven" for Serbia's democrats and a potential lever for encouraging a political transition in Belgrade.

• James Dobbins
  Special Advisor to the President and
  Secretary of State for Kosovo and Dayton Implementation
  
• Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
  Senior Fellow
  The American Enterprise Institute
  
  Moderator:
• Daniel Serwer
  Senior Fellow
  United States Institute of Peace

Presentations were followed by questions from the audience.

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