European Union Approaches to Human Rights Violations in Kosovo before and after Independence

This article examines European Union (EU) approaches to the question of human rights violations in Kosovo before and after its proclamation of independence, in February 2008. While the 1999 NATO-led humanitarian intervention in the region was often justified as necessary due to the continuous abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Serbian forces against the ethic Kosovo Albanians, the post-interventionist period has witnessed a dramatic reversal of roles, with the rights of the remaining Serbian minority being regularly abused by the dominant Albanian population. However, in contrast to the former scenario, the Brussels administration has remained quite salient about the post-independence context – a grey zone of unviable political and social components, capable of generating new confrontations and human rights abuses within the borders of Kosovo. Aware of this dynamic and the existing EU official rhetoric, it is possible to conclude that the embedded human rights concerns in Kosovo are not likely to disappear, but even more importantly, their relevance has been significantly eroded

Building State Bureaucracies And Democratic Institutions: The Role Of International Actors In Kosovo

What explains success and failure in internationally supported bureaucracies? This dissertation examines how the approaches of international actors strengthen or weaken bureaucratic effectiveness and democratic institutions after the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo. My research demonstrates that international actors face short-term trade-offs between supporting state-building and democratization. In order to build effective state bureaucracies, international actors need to insulate these bureaucracies from political and societal influences. By contrast, international actors can support the development of democratic institutions by promoting citizen mobilization and contestation, and therefore encouraging political and societal influences to shape, constrain and inform democratic decision-makers. Employing a comparative research design, this dissertation utilizes national survey data as well as data from 140 author-conducted interviews and focus groups collected over ten months of field work. While most research investigates the state as a unitary abstract actor, I disaggregate the state by contrasting its constituent bureaucracies that vary in effectiveness. I use three innovative sets of indicators to measure effective bureaucracies: mission fulfillment, penalization of corruption, and responsiveness to the public