Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo (Crisis in World Politics)

I have read this book whilst I was in Kosova and I want to make clear that this is just the author's own experience and interpretation of the situation in Kosova. I don't agree with the title of World failed Kosova because it is the opposite, Kosova is an example of success for the UN.
Being a Kosovan myself, I would advise readers to read other books as well in order to understand the life and progress of Kosova in the future.

Incisive and Compelling (2/3 people found this helpful)

In the past decade, Kosovo has only ever hit the headlines because of violence and tragedy. Ethnic cleansing, war crimes, NATO intervention: these events dominated the news agenda for the first six months of 1999 and defined Kosovo's international reputation. Sadly, destruction is clearly more telegenic than construction, and the vitally important attempts to steer Kosovo towards a better future have received far less attention.

The authors' task is to tell the story of the UN mission that has administered Kosovo from the early days after NATO intervention through to - presumably - its imminent independence (conditional, supervised or however formulated). This is the first significant study of UNMIK, and succeeds brilliantly in illuminating its challenges, dilemmas and limitations.

From its uncertain first steps, by 2001 UNMIK oversaw the largest per-capita investment in peacebuilding that the world has ever seen. Yet the returns on that investment have been unimpressive, yielding a host of lessons that the "international community" urgently needs to learn if it is to succeed in elsewhere.

Paying particular attention to the orchestrated ethnic violence of March 2004, the authors convincingly portray an international community consistently unwilling to confront hardliners in the Kosovo Albanian community. This timidity is the source of the failure identified in the book's title, and has long-term consequences for Kosovo and its population.

As a ground-breaking study, the book almost inevitably left me wanting more. What could UNMIK realistically have achieved, given the timeframe and resources available? How much influence could a short-term mission - however well-resourced - really exert over Kosovo's long-term development? Social and political change is a long-term process, yet western politics - under the scrutiny of the 24-hour media - demands rapid results. Do we really have the stomach for the necessary long-term engagement, or are we content simply with the illusion that something is being done?

Necessarily, the authors have been more conservative in their aims, but in exploring UNMIK's successes and failures, they have rendered a great service to those who must grapple with these problems. We can only hope that future Donald Rumsfelds will choose to listen, and be willing to learn.

Absolutely Excellent! (1/5 people found this helpful)

This is a brilliant warts-and-all account of life in Kosovo from the 1999 war until the current status talks, and the crazy life in UN-land. Military history meets current affairs, with illuminating analysis - superb. I couldn't stop reading. (Wish it had been longer!)

An excellent first-hand account of statebuilding in Kosovo (3/4 people found this helpful)

With the decision on Kosovo's future status probably coming up later this year, this is a timely and important book. The authors provide an excellent insight into almost seven years of statebuilding by the international community, and by dividing the period into four different phases provide a useful framework of analysis. It's descriptions of the weaknesses of UNMIK raise important questions about the feasibility of ambitious, transformative statebuilding missions not only the the Balkans but also in Iraq and Afghanistan. It should be on the reading list of anyone interested in these issues.

This book should be first choice for anybody interested in "nation-building" (3/5 people found this helpful)

This is a fascinating account of the UN-led effort in Kosovo over the past seven years and how, to quote the book's title, "the world failed". While Afghanistan and Iraq dominate today's news agenda, it is Kosovo, the authors argue, that is the standard by which the international community's ability to rebuild post-conflict societies or failed states should be judged. This is a powerful book from two people who lived and worked in Pristina for several years. It offers compelling and credible analysis of what went right, what went wrong and, crucially, the lessons that must be learnt by the international community for the future.

Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo (Crisis in World Politics)

Iain King, Whit Mason

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