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the track record of the western democracies in Yugoslavia
I am not optimistic that they will respond to the
challenges there with good sense and good diplomacy. Their
tendency to over simplify complicated situations, their
compulsion to identify for TV audiences good guys and bad
guys, their avoidance of telling the truth to their own
citizens about the real issues.
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characteristics of our present day leadership do not inspire
me with hope about the future of the Balkans. |
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more disturbing is the reality that in our new unipolar world
the overwhelming military power of the United States seems to
lead it inevitably to resort to force in the resolution of
international disputes rather than to use its strength and
influence to bring about just and equitable solutions. Why go
through the difficult and lengthy process of diplomatic
negotiations when you can threaten to bomb from 15000 feet
with no risk of American casualties? |
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| As
a long-range policy this approach could be disasterous.
History endures and power relationships change. Nobody
respects a bully or admires someone that doesn’t play by the
rules. As the saying goes, “What goes around comes
around.” There will inevitably be a day when the United
States will want to be able to rely on an international
security framework that is fair and abides by the rule of law. |
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think we can learn from Kosovo. Let us not turn our backs on
the principles that have served us so well in the past. Let us
abide by the rules of the UN charter even while we strive to
reform that body. Let us be reluctant to intervene in the
domestic affairs of a sovereign state without Security Council
or general assembly approval. Let us try to stay out of civil
wars unless our own vital interests are at stake or if we must
intervene let us do so objectively in an effort to resolve the
dispute by peaceful means. |
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would hope that Kosovo has taught us to be more demanding of
our political leaders. In the case of my own country Canadians
woke up one morning last march to find that Canadian pilots
were bombing Yugoslavia. There had been no declaration of war,
no debate in our parliament.
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were bombing a country that presented no threat to Canada. A
country that had fought along side of us in two World Wars.
The vast majority of Canadians had no idea of where Kosovo was
or what were the issues. |
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were asked to simply accept the fact that we were on the side
of the good guys. After all we were a democracy and could not
stand by while thousands of people were being murdered in
Kosovo. |
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we were part of the NATO team and everyone knew that NATO was
there to represent the rule of law, democracy and the
principles of the United Nations Charter. If we were bombing
fellow human beings in Belgrade, Novi Sad or Pancevo at least
we were doing it for humanitarian reasons so it must be OK.
This is the message the Canadian political leaders were
telling Canadians about Kosovo. I found this pretty disturbing
stuff. |
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I
think Kosovo should have also taught us to accept the
reality that those who struggle for self-
determination are struggling for territory. The one is
intrinsically bound up with the other. President Havel
of the Czech republic received a standing ovation in
the Canadian parliament when he declared that Kosovo
was the first war in history fought for human values
rather than territory. He was wrong. The struggle in
Kosovo was all about territory and who should control
it –Serbs or Albanians.
That struggle is not yet
settled. |
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