Peacekeeping in Albania and Kosovo : Conflict Response and International Intervention in the Western Balkans, 1997 - 2002

International interventions in conflict-ridden societies have left a trail of debacles behind. The limited military intervention and the civilian follow-up in Albania after the chaos in 1997 is a positive exception. Peacekeeping in Albania and Kosovo explores the concerted efforts to rebuild and modernize a society marked by its communist past, the failed coup attempt of 1998, and the influx of Kosovan refugees in 1999. In Kosovo, the UN-led international rule and its efforts to rebuild a society from scratch were complicated by many restraining political, financial and administrative factors. This book describes how former political advisories agreed to work together, how a successful multi-ethnic police force was built, how a remarkable demilitarization of former guerrillas was achieved and how political factions came to accept the outcome of the first democratic elections.