War Over Kosovo

While many analysts view the war for Kosovo as a one-sided affair of passing importance, this volume insists otherwise. To a greater extent than any other episode since the end of the Cold War, the war in Kosovo revealed the distinctive attributes of a new American "way of war." In so doing, the conflict also brought into sharp focus the dilemmas-military, political, and moral-confronting a liberal democracy intent on wielding preeminent power on a global scale.

More than any other episode since the end of the Cold War, the conflict in Kosovo revealed the distinctive attributes of a American "way of war." This volume includes an overview of the war. It explores the conflict's relationship to US strategy, the Revolution in Military Affairs, and American civil-military relations, among other topics.More than any other episode since the end of the Cold War, the conflict in Kosovo revealed the distinctive attributes of a new American "way of war." In so doing, Kosovo also brought into sharp focus the military, political, and moral dilemmas confronting a liberal democracy intent on wielding preeminent power on a global scale. What are the moral implications posed by waging high-tech warfare for humanitarian purposes? Does the precedent set by intervention of this type point toward peace and stability or toward more war? How well suited are the United States military and American society as a whole to the security challenges of the age of globalization? According to Bacevich and Cohen, gauging the "success" achieved in Kosovo yields important answers to these and related questions. The volume includes a well-crafted historical overview of the war and six essays that place it in a broader context. The contributors explore the conflict's relationship to U.S. grand strategy, the Revolution in Military Affairs, and American civil-military relations, among other topics. Contributors: William A. Arkin, Andrew J. Bacevich, Eliot A. Cohen, Alberto R. Coll, James Kurth, Anatol Lieven, Michael Vickers