PRESIDENT CLINTON'S RESPONSE TO KOSOVO1
Copyright © 2000 by Howard Tolley, Jr., with grant support from the U.S. Institute of Peace. All Rights Reserved. THRO Case No. 200-3, ISSN 1529-2215.
The problem confronts students with the political, legal and moral choices the U.S. faced when Yugoslavia violated the human rights of Albanians in Kosovo. Clinton's decision required a complex strategic, political, and legal calculus.
- Could a lame duck, Democratic President impeached by a Republican controlled Congress successfully lead the U.S. and its NATO allies into war?
- Would U.S. national interests be served by humanitarian intervention in Kosovo?
- Could international human rights be advanced by a military response?
- Did U.S. and international law grant the President authority to use armed force without prior approval of Congress and the U.N. Security Council.
Background materials review Balkans history and identify the options President Clinton and his advisers considered in January 1999. Students online may either read the text or listen to the audio of the President's address to the nation announcing NATO air strikes. Study guide multiple choice questions accompany each section, and a final three part essay requires systematic analysis of competing principles. A model answer presents conflicting arguments on the legality of NATO's humanitarian intervention.
The case may be printed from a single file.
The case outline (Contents) provides links to all sections of the problem which begins with "A Call to Bomb." (Green forward arrow)
