Transcript kosovo and south ossetia crisis: similarities

KOSOVO AND SOUTH
OSSETIA CRISIS
Similarities – Differences - Consequences
Data regarding Kosovo’s Crisis
South Ossetia Crisis
Similarities of both Crises
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The legal basis of the Kosovo issue coincides with
the South Ossetia issue.
Kosovo is part of the Balkan area, while South
Ossetia of the Caucasus region. Both constitute
two of the most unstable regions worldwide.
Both issues are crises of long standing with armed
conflicts, tensions and some relatively peaceful
times.
Both provinces succeeded in gaining their
independence only through their unilateral
declaration.
During some periods of both crises, some of the
UN Security Council permanent members didn’t
agree on a resolution.
In both provinces, external armed forces
intervened in favor of the ethnic community
claiming its independence.
Differences between both crises
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
In Kosovo crisis we had a UN Security Council
Resolution (1244), while in South Ossetia’s crisis
we didn’t have any resolution.
Peacekeeping force in Kosovo fulfilled efficiently
its mission, while in South Ossetia didn’t achieve
in preventing the conflicts in August 2008.
South Ossetia has an extremely limited population,
while there are many UN state-members with equal
or smaller to Kosovo’s population.
NATO intervened in Kosovo’s conflicts citing
humanitarian reasons, while Russia intervened in
the fighting of August 2008 in order to protect the
Ossetians.
Kosovo was recognized by 62 of the 192 UN
member States. On the contrary, South Ossetia
was recognized only by 3 countries.
Consequences
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The Kosovo and South Ossetia Crisis put the UN to
the test and demonstrated its weakness.
The legal basis for the both Crisis showed
International Law ambiquity and the need for
further development of its provisions.
South Ossetias’s crisis brought to the front the
energy security issue, raised many issues for the
EU and affected greatly USA and Russia’s
relations.
The Kosovo and South Ossetia’s final status will
set a precedent for many open issues with the
some legal basis.
Some USA’s friends and allies shall reconsider
their belief that the superpower may guarantee any
of their geostrategic aspirations.
Conclusion
a. Today, there are open issues of geostrategic
interest, leading sometimes to crises that
need management.
b. UN shows signs of weakness while
International Law needs to complete and
clarify its provisions.
c. Effective crisis management requires:
application of current International
legitimary, great caution and experience
exploitation from the past.