\n\nOver the weekend, Kosovo\u2019s Parliament passed three laws to transform its national security force into a regular army; over the next decade. Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj hailed the move by noting: \u201cYou cannot be safe and secure, you can\u2019t help peace and stability of the world without being in peace yourself, having your own army.\u201d Except that this was not a simple exercise in self-determination. After all, Pristina remains a disputed territory in Southeast Europe; with around just half of the international community recognising its declaration of independence dating back a decade. Serbia, for its part, still considers the latter part of its territory. Indeed, Belgrade has responded to developments by calling for an emergency UN Security Council meeting while warning of possible military intervention. If this were to happen the entire region could risk becoming another opening in the return to Cold War politics. Not least because it would position Serbian forces in direct confrontation with American troops that have been stationed in Kosovo for the last 20 years.
The US-UK intervention of 1998 \u2014 which entirely bypassed the UN and placed NATO firmly in the driving seat \u2014 resulted in Kosovo breaking away from Serbia. It represented the first endeavour waged under Tony Blair\u2019s manufactured doctrine of humanitarian intervention. And formed an integral part of his vision whereby the so-called new internationalists re-write the new world order to their advantage. All of which conveniently coincided with the Alliance\u2019s 50th birthday.
Indeed, many pundits, including intellectuals like Noam Chomsky, have long argued that the Kosovo war was not ignited by concerns over ethnic strife. But, rather, by American recognition of the area\u2019s geo-strategic location as a means of controlling oil flows from the Middle East to Russia and Western Europe. Thus it was in the US interest to support the ethnic Albanians against the Serbs to curry favour with the Muslim world; which is home to most of the world\u2019s oil resources in the Gulf and Caspian Sea. It is therefore no coincidence that Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo represents both the largest and most expensive of all US military bases in Europe since the Vietnam War. For it is said that whomsoever controls Eurasia controls the whole world.
All of which serves to explain why both Washington and London have been quick to throw their weight behind the new Kosovo army that will comprise some 5,000 troops and 3,000 reservists; even as NATO terms the move ill-timed. Russia has called for the new military to be disbanded at the earliest.\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the weekend, Kosovo\u2019s Parliament passed three laws to transform its national security force into a regular army; over the next decade. Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj hailed the move by noting: \u201cYou cannot be safe and secure, you can\u2019t help peace and stability of the world without being in peace yourself, having your own army.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\n