Keeping Kosovo

REMEMBER Kosovo? That war has disappeared from television screens with remarkable speed. In fact, Americans seemed to lose interest in this high-tech war even before it had drawn to a formal close—truly a virtual victory. In Europe, the social-democratic parties got no electoral bounce out of it in the recent European Union elections. Most people in the West saw Kosovo as a good cause (which it was) and were willing to help put things right, but now want to “move on,” as a certain Western leader would say. This is Kosovo, after all—not Germany or Japan.

But that is not how wars work. Kosovo and its surroundings have become our problem—and will be so for decades and decades to come. Military interventions are not one-shot deals, particularly if you win. After we had launched the war, winning was important. (Consider the alternative.) There may be no substitute for victory, but victory is no substitute for strategy. Our political goals in the Balkans remain confused and contradictory. The cruise missiles have done their work. It is time for the Clinton administration to follow suit.

FZ

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Fareed Zakaria

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REMEMBER Kosovo? That war has disappeared from television screens with remarkable speed. In fact, Americans seemed to lose interest in this high-tech war even before it had drawn to a formal close—truly a virtual victory. In Europe, the social-democratic parties got no electoral bounce out of it in the recent European Union elections. Most people in the West saw Kosovo as a good cause (which it was) and were willing to help put things right, but now want to “move on,” as a certain Western leader would say. This is Kosovo, after all—not Germany or Japan.

But that is not how wars work. Kosovo and its surroundings have become our problem—and will be so for decades and decades to come. Military interventions are not one-shot deals, particularly if you win. After we had launched the war, winning was important. (Consider the alternative.) There may be no substitute for victory, but victory is no substitute for strategy. Our political goals in the Balkans remain confused and contradictory. The cruise missiles have done their work. It is time for the Clinton administration to follow suit.