Slobodan Milosevic, according to CNN Headline News, has lost the presidential election in Yugoslavia.
Should he decide that he doesn’t want to leave power (fairly likely), what should be done? Should the UN insist that a new vote be taken that is totally overseen by the UN? Should the UN use forcible methods to remove Milosevic or implement a new vote? Should the US initiate a campaign to the same? Should the Yugoslav people remove him themselves?
Just curious to your thoughts on the matter, I personally have not decided what I think should be done yet.
Of course he doesn’t want to leave power, that is almost a certain death sentence. The US won’t get involved, there would be very little popular support for sending in the troops.
Russia, Milosevic’s biggest supporters, have even said that he lost the election. The plus about this is that even his “friends” are turning against him.
You have a point. However, I am not convinced that anything will change unless there is SOME outside influence on the matter. Whether it is direct military action, or training troops and supplying material is a different matter. The UN does exist for a reason, after all…
Should the UN do anything? Would there even be support in the Security Council for any kind of resolution? Would this fall under a “peacekeeping” mission?
Between now and the time he’s due to leave office, next year, a lot of things can happen, including (just for instance) the untimely demise of Kostunica, or the opposition party’s inexplicable dissolution on “voluntary grounds”. The sort of things, in short, that would make it very difficult for any other country to step in with a clear mandate to rectify the situation.
I dunno what will happen but Milosevic is certainly clever enough to work someting out…
I agree, but I think that Milosevic has suffciently disarmed or murdered enough of his populace that this may not be practical. I’m no fan of the UN whatsoever, BTW. I just would rather not see the US left being the police force of the world yet again.
Even if Milosevich stays in office, he demonstrably won’t do so with the approval of the majority. The opposition will feel cheated of their victory and become aggressive. Russia has given up on Milosevic. He’s basically without friends.
He might go spoiling for a fight (Montenegro ?) to try to rally support, it worked for him before. It might, OTOH, be too late to try using that old trick again. But if the UN or anyone else starts rattling sabres, they’ll be playing into Milosevich’s hands - “Look, they’re going to bomb us again! I told you they hated us! I’ll HAVE to take control, the nation’s survival is at stake.”
I think the UN would do best to stay the hell away for now and let the Yugoslaws take a swing at fixing the problem themselves - it is, after all, their country, their problem to solve and, ultimately, their chance to redeem themselves in the worlds eyes. OTOH, the West should make it VERY clear that any attempt to “export” the conflict will hurt Yugoslavia badly.
If the Serbs manage to get rid of M. - through civil disobedience or open uprising or, for that matter, by Milosevich taking a late flight out of Belgrade with the national gold reserves as carry-on luggage - they’ll expect to be taken seriously as a nation and to be welcomed into Europe.
Unfortunately, Kostanica (sp ?) apparently isn’t the through-and-through democrat we would’ve preferred.
Am I the only one thinking about how much easier it was during the Cold War ?
…if demon Milosovich leaves town, does that mean that the US Army can leave as well? We’ve been told that once “democracy” is restored (i.e. Milosovich leaves) then Yugoslavia will become the peace-loving, multi-ethnic paradise it has always been…but, seriously, there has been zero news about Bosnia. Can we take this as a sign that peace is at hand?
If the UN–or the US, for that matter–is going to enforce democratic procedures in Yugoslavia, then doesn’t that imply the same should be true for all the other nation-states of the world? Should somebody go in and overthrow all dictatorial regimes? If so, who gets to invade China, and how many million bodybags should be ordered beforehand? Or do we only do this to smaller countries which don’t have nuclear weapons…and if so, are we actually upholding democracy, or the concept of “might makes right?”
I think everyone had best resist the urge to meddle and let the Yugoslavs work it out.