International Relation Theory - Case Study Example

International Relation Theory Knudsen in his argument s that the 1998 rebellion of the Albanians in Kosovo and ensuring of the civil war and international intervention is an example of tragic violent conflict and collective attempts by the foreign nations to intervene. According to English perspective, this gives to questions regarding the relationship between human rights and international sovereignty, and the managerial and legitimizing roles of international relation. This school of thought argues that this was not normal intervention since it raised questions regarding the legitimacy of humanitarian intervention, the nature of sovereignty statehood and the role of international community to rescue individual and nations at risk. Using the English approach in studying the conflict in Kosovo makes it possible to understand the need of international intervention in relation to rule of sovereignty and general prohibition against use of force. According to social constructivist approach, argues the causes of the riots by the Kosovo students were motivated by political reasons whereby the Kosovar Albanians demanded for republican status within Yugoslavia. In this regard, the actions by the kosovars demonstrated their collective identity in that these demonstrations led to reforms that strengthened Albanian identity. Throughout the 1980’s, there was growth of Yugoslav identification and its implication for the stability of the Yugoslav, but through socialization, people began to view themselves differently. This perception made Yugoslav vulnerable because of lack of state support and the emergence of entrepreneurs using nationalist ideas to pursue a variety of agenda. The rise of nationalist entrepreneurs began to portray Kosovo issue as victimization of Serbs in Kosovo and larger problem with Yugoslavia as a whole. In addition, constructivist theory can be applied in federalism did not serve to answer all of national questions in Yugoslavia. In Kosovo, the Yugoslav idea was not accepted by those of Albanian ethnicity who were majority of the population in the area. The federal structure that confined Albanian population to the status of national minority and Kosovo to sub federal unit has won wider acceptance among Kosovo Albanians. The kosovar Albanians took into uprisings to protest against their incorporation in Yugoslav political structure. This idea manifested in 1980 when the kosovars Albanians rejected the Yugoslav ideas eventually plunging them into deadly conflict. The conflict in Kosovo led to systematic rape, which is identified by international law as war crime. Therefore, liberal feminist seeks to whose law is it because rape is interpreted from gendered viewpoint as attack on woman’s honor. Liberal feminist on the other hand recruited women in the military force. Women helped in provision of services in legal institutions in that they acted as prosecutors and attorneys this was done with the aim of promoting gender equality and preserve public image. In addition, gendered expectation and assumption in conflict resolution is vital in that it gives women a chance to move from victim part, and reclaim their agency and participate actively in recovery process. Critical feminist perspective seeks to understand how the contemporary world order developed and to identify who is hurt or benefit by current array of power relation. In addition, the war led to massive women trafficking and exclusion of women from decision-making based on gendered and ethnicized interpretation of woman’s place in Kosovo society. The question that many historians pose is that what led the United States of America to engage herself in the operation-allied forces in 1999? Unites states had little extrinsic or economic interest in the Balkans after the Soviet Union had collapsed. The republic of Yugoslavia was weak and poor situated on the periphery of Europe. The conflicts in Kosovo caused a security threat to US secondary interest in Europe given that the country was closer to NATO allies and the possibility that huge flows of refugees might destabilize the Balkans. Secondly, why did the allied powers participated in massive bombings despite them knowing that doing so would cause major civilian causalities among Kosovars, Serbs and displacement of kosovar Albanians. They did so with the hope that their operation would repel ethnic violence and that they wanted to cover their failure to put to an end massacre and displacement of people. This paper seeks to utilize the Kosovo conflict for neoclassical realism, which asserts that the relative distribution of material power shapes the parameters of states foreign policy actions. However, such forces can only influence global policy via medium of leader’s perception and calculation of relative prestige and power. The US initiated the Kosovo war because they were afraid of further erosion of US credibility within NATO with the disintegration of Soviet Union. It sought to maintain the US predominance with the intention of expanding its policies of democracy further in Eastern and Central Europe in that through NATO, US was in a position to perpetuate her policies. The neoclassical realism reveals certain elements of the Kosovo war while leaving other aspects unexplained. During the Kosovo conflict, the Clinton administration aimed at preserving the US prestige- the reputation of possessing military power and the ability to use it even at risk in differing with NATO allies and the bombing strategy that were needless to the stipulated aims of OAF. In order to understand why the US initiated operation in Kosovo was because it wanted to protect the Kosovar Albanians. The neoclassical theory states that the major powers are more concerned with preservation of relative power and prestige they already posses than in argumentIing those commodities. Neoclassical realism theory would be used in discussion of systematic imperatives and the objectives of US strategy. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the international system shifted from bipolarity to unipolarity. In addition, the US emerged as the leader in economic and material power. The grand strategy of US foreign policy remained unchanged in that it sought to maintain US predominance, prevent emergence of bipolar international system within Europe and deter emergence of peer competitors. The Clinton administration was reluctant to intervene in the Kosovo crisis because the president was inexperienced in foreign affairs matter. However, the Bosnian war was not the simmering crisis in Kosovo, soon dominated the government’s foreign policy agenda. Contradictions emerged between the Clinton government stressing on the role of US as European power and its willingness to use military force in support of its stipulated political objectives. The resulting credibility dilemma would have great influence for Kosovo crisis from 1998-1999. The discussion of the Clinton government and the Bosnian team’s rejection of the Vance-Owen plan and endorse for what they called the lift and strike option despite the objection from Britain and France in 1993. During the Bosnian war, more than 25,000 Bosnian Muslims died, and Clinton’s administration thought that the continuation of the war would undermine US credibility as European security guarantor. In addition, neoclassical realist asserts that US officials were not concerned about the credibility of NATO as an institution but rather that alliance’s conservation as a means to propagate US hegemony in Europe. Richard Holbrooke flew to Europe from Washington to try to resolve the Bosnian war supported by threat of unilateral military action. This decision convinced the NAC to authorize the use of airstrikes against that Bosnian Serbs target in retaliation for the August 1995 bombing of Sarajevo, which killed many people. The war in Yugoslavia made US official view the Kosovo conflict as having great impact on their leadership role in NATO. However, as the crisis worsened, the US decided to use vague threats, repeated deadline, and mandatory statements for Milosevic to stop his aggression. The international relation theories of social construction, liberalism, and realism have tried to explain why foreign nations invaded Kosovo. The social constructivists described how the issue of identity could be destructive and constructive at the same time while stressing the need to rebuild the fallen society. In addition, foreign nations invaded Kosovo because of humanitarian needs and the desire to put to an end the violent conflicts that were taking place. The constructivism theory states that local or domestic policies are shaped by the social interaction and ongoing process in society. It is because of these action-shaping processes being replicated in the actorness performed by the country in international system. It is somehow hard to differentiate between domestic and international policy. This is explained in view to the excellence of the European Union in its role of what can be attributed as foreign economic security policy. At the end, the conflict in Kosovo would not be easily solved because of the US had its own interest in Kosovo. When analyzing Kosovo conflict at the international communities dealing with the situation in Kosovo, the mode of a realist approach is rather insufficient for international communities in this specific situation. This is because of the exceptionality of the situation in terms of the foreign nation having to rebuild a completely new state but being in no position to create and establish a strong society. In regards to the construction of a society and societal players in Kosovo, the US seems to be acting on grounds to utilize its own foreign opportunities, with emphasis on the economical perspectives. In the US way of performing actorness in trying to resolve the Kosovo conflict, it seem to be able to agree on a common economical way of doing actorness reflected in the engagement into Kosovo as having long-term economic and political benefits. Works Cited Sterling-Folker, Jennifer. Making Sense of International Relations Theory. New York: Lynne Rienner Pub, 2005. Print. Read More