“Independent Kosovo” in the Context of the Declining American Hegemony
“Independent Kosovo” in the Context of the Declining American Hegemony

Author(s): Tahir Mahmutefendić
Subject(s): Politics, Political Philosophy, International relations/trade, Sociology of Politics
Published by: Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije
Keywords: Declining hegemony; Western civilization; Life cycle of civilization; Life cycle of hegemony; Extension strategy;
Summary/Abstract: This article analyses short-term and long-term aims which US led international community wanted to achieve by recognition of Kosovo’s independence. Short-term goals could include releasing the political pressure from the Bush administration, establishing military bases in Kosovo and building a pipeline through the Balkans. In the long-run the recognition of Kosovo’s independence has a strategic goal to encourage secessionist movements in China and Russia, two the most likely challengers to a declining American hegemony. This is part of the extension strategy, whose aim is to postpone for as long as possible the decline stage of the American hegemony. In a wider context of the life cycle of civilizations, which is much longer than the hegemony cycle, it could also be part of the extension strategy to postpone the decline stage of the Western civilization.

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