NATO’s Military Intervention in Kosovo and the Diplomatic Alternative

NATO’s military intervention in Kosovo is a highly controversial issue due to its violation of the general rule in the international law that prohibits the use of force, even in the case of a humanitarian crisis. What is also unique about the Kosovo case is the fact that during this conflict the international society witnessed the first major use of destructive armed force that had been undertaken with the stated purpose of implementing UN Security Council resolutions, but without the Security Council authorization; the first major bombing campaign intended to bring a halt to crimes against humanity being committed by a state within its own borders; and the first bombing campaign of which it could be claimed that it had on its own, and without sustained land operations, brought about a major change of policy by the target government. Nevertheless, one of the major questions that inevitably come up is whether the use of military force was the only way of putting an end to the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo.