Conflicting rules: Global constitutionalism and the Kosovo intervention

摘要: The air campaign launched against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 24 March 1999 was intended to force the Yugoslavian authorities to respect the rights of Albanians living in Kosovo, a region that had enjoyed semi-independent status within Yugoslavia. Reports of violations of the rights of the Albanian community had been widely disseminated in the Western media for a full year prior to the initiation of the campaign. Rather than the United Nations Security Council, the military campaign was undertaken by NATO forces, led primarily by the United States and United Kingdom. Both US President Bill Clinton and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair argued strongly that the air campaign was undertaken to enforce the rules of the international community, specifically those concerning the human rights of minority groups in multi-ethnic communities. The air campaign remained largely that – an air war without the use of …