An Evaluation of The Kosovo Crisis and NATO Intervention Using The Basic Principles of Realism (Neo-Classical Realism)

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 2, 329 - 377, 29.12.2024

Muharem Shtavica

https://doi.org/10.58685/dsd.1481884

Öz

The collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) began in Slovenia and Croatia, and this disaster was discharged into Bosnia and Herzegovina and ended up in the last bastion of Kosovo. One of the longest and most critical wars in the former Yugoslavia was the inter-ethnic conflict between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs. In particular, the most prominent humanitarian crisis that this paper will deal with concerns the period of 1998- 1999. The Armed Forces of the government of Serbia might be classified in the ranks of “defensive realism”. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was struggling to protect the Albanian civilian population from the Milosevic regime, while Serbia was committed to preserving and attaining national security. In addition, there the principle of security dilemma because the KLA was declared a terrorist organization by state organs at that time. On the other hand, NATO’s intervention in Kosovo, even though it was missioned to protect human values, additionally aimed at its geopolitical and hegemonic strategies in the world of the anarchic international political system. Yet, in the theory of international relations, this can be classified as a form of offensive realism. This article consists of two main parts: The first part aims to research the position of classical realism regarding the conflict in Kosovo using the main principles as they are; survival, self-help, and security dilemma, and the position of neoclassical realism, which focuses more on state agents and domestic policy and the reflection of these state variables toward the impact on the construction of foreign policies. The second part of this study focuses on criticisms of the realist school’s criticism of NATO’s intervention in Kosovo. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the position of realism claiming that; the exclusive monopoly in the use of power belongs to states. In addition, this study aims to illuminate the criticisms that realism uses against foreign interference in domestic affairs. Yet, states are major actors in the anarchic global system that possesses a sole monopoly over their people and sovereignty. Any domestic disturbance and intervention from abroad is strongly condemned and violates the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other sovereign states.

Anahtar Kelimeler

NATO, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Milosevic, Serbia.

KOSOVA KRİZİ VE NATO MÜDAHALESİNİN REALİZMİN (NEO-KLASİK REALİZM) TEMEL İLKELERİYLE DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Öz

Sosyalist Federal Yugoslavya Cumhuriyeti’nin (SFYC) çöküşü Slovenya ve Hırvatistan’da başladı, bu felaket Bosna Hersek’e sıçradı ve Kosova’nın son kalesine kadar ulaşmıştı. Eski Yugoslavya’daki en uzun ve en kritik savaşlardan biri Kosovalı Arnavutlar ile Sırplar arasındaki etnik gruplar arası çatışmaydı. Özellikle bu makalenin ele alacağı insani krizlerden en öne çıkanı 1998-1999 dönemini kapsamaktadır. Sırbistan hükümetinin Silahlı Kuvvetleri “savunmacı realizm” saflarında sınıflandırılabilir. Kosova Kurtuluş Ordusu (KKO), Arnavut sivil halkı Miloseviç rejiminden korumak için mücadele ederken, Sırbistan, ulusal güvenliğini de korumaya ve sağlamaya kararlıydı. Buna ek olarak, KKO’nun o dönemde devlet organları tarafından terörist bir örgüt olarak ilan edilmesi nedeniyle güvenlik ikilemi ilkesi de söz konusudur. Öte yandan, NATO’nun Kosova’ya müdahalesi, sadece insani değerlerin korunması için değil, aynı zamanda anarşik uluslararası siyasi sistem dünyasında jeopolitik ve hegemonik stratejilerini de hedeflemiştir. Yine de uluslararası ilişkiler teorisinde bu durum saldırgan realizmin bir yapısı olarak sınıflandırılabilir. Bu makale iki ana bölümden oluşmaktadır: Birinci bölüm, klasik realizmin Kosova’daki çatışmaya ilişkin pozisyonunu; hayatta kalma, kendi kendine yardım ve güvenlik ikilemi gibi temel ilkeleri kullanarak ve daha çok devlet aktörlerine ve iç politikaya odaklanan neoklasik realizmin pozisyonunu ve bu devlet değişkenlerinin dış politikaların inşasındaki etkisine yönelik yansımasını araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın ikinci bölümü, Realist okulun of NATO’nun Kosova’ya müdahalesine yönelik eleştirilerine odaklanmaktadır. Bu makalenin temel amacı, güç kullanımında münhasır tekelin devletlere ait olduğunu iddia eden realizmin pozisyonunu incelemektir. Buna ek olarak, bu çalışma realizmin içişlerine yönelik herhangi bir dış müdahaleye karşı kullandığı eleştirileri ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Oysa devletler, anarşik küresel sistemde kendi halklarına ve egemenliklerine karşı tekel konumunda olan başlıca aktörlerdir. Her türlü iç karışıklık ve dışarıdan müdahale şiddetle kınanmakta ve diğer egemen devletlerin iç işlerine karışmama ilkesini ihlal etmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

NATO, Yugoslavya, Kosova, Miloseviç, Sırbistan

Kaynakça

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