THE VIOLENT CONFLICTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND THE VACILLATIONS OF THE WEST: TRANSATLANTIC DISCOURSE CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE YUGOSLAV WARS
THE VIOLENT CONFLICTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND THE VACILLATIONS OF THE WEST: TRANSATLANTIC DISCOURSE CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE YUGOSLAV WARS

Summary/Abstract: The chief purpose of this article is to present and analyze the shift within the transatlantic portrayals of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. This analysis will indicate the shift from a hesitant and ambivalent attitude with respect to the war in Bosnia towards a rather pro-active, military response to the war in Kosovo, built on the criteria of a just war and on the need to use force in order to pursue humanitarian outcomes. A second pivotal goal is to identify factors which shaped the shift in the transatlantic perceptions on the wars in Former Yugoslavia and examine them as developments within the transatlantic discursive constructions. The examination of such developments will focus on: from war occurring in an age-old ethnic conflict trapped territory (Bosnia) towards a war and humanitarian catastrophe at the “heart of Europe” (Clinton’s term); from the equivalence of guilt (as explained by Tom Gallagher), in the case of Bosnia, towards the imperative of identifying and targeting aggressors, in the case of Kosovo; from deployment of ground troops and neutral peace-keeping towards air-strikes and peace enforcement.

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