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THE WESTERN POWERS AND THE BALKAN WAR: CLASHING SECURITY INTERESTS AND INSTITUTIONAL PARALYSIS
Author(s) -
Rupp Richard E.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
southeastern political review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 0730-2177
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.1998.tb00500.x
Subject(s) - hegemony , political science , international relations , cold war , argument (complex analysis) , liberalism , political economy , international relations theory , intervention (counseling) , realism , politics , international security , security studies , public administration , development economics , law , sociology , economics , epistemology , psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , psychiatry
During the early 1990s many international relations specialists wrote that the end of the Cold War heralded the emergence of a markedly new era in global politics. The argument was advanced that the major powers were experiencing a congruence of their security interests and that the new period afforded unprecedented opportunities for multilateral cooperation. As the two dominant frameworks in the formal study of international relations, realism and neo‐liberalism are at odds in explaining multilateral interventions of the post‐Cold War era. This article applies the two theories to the West's intervention in the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The primary aim of the research is to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the theories as they account for the West's failed intervention strategies. Analysis of this question will be based upon the examination of three independent variables: the interests of the intervening states, the impact of international organizations, and the presence or absence of a hegemonic power among the Western powers.