In 1999, the western powers used military might to drive out Serb forces from Kosovo after Serbia had attempted to maintain its domination in the disputed region, committing in the process what were widely condemned as atrocities.
The Serbs’ eviction from Kosovo was hailed as a victory for justice and humanity. But there has been news in the past week which casts a very different light on the passions of more than 10 years ago. We have been reminded of old truths, about unintended consequences, the vanity of human wishes, the way that best-laid plans go wrong, and the danger of taking sides in conflicts about which we may know little, or not enough.
If one leader made the case for armed intervention in Kosovo it was the British prime minister, Tony Blair. He gave famous expression to this doctrine in his Chicago speech of April 1999. “This is a just war, based not on any territorial ambitions but on values,” he said of the Nato action in Kosovo. “We cannot let the evil of ethnic cleansing stand.”