The Balkans

US-NATO bombs fall on Serbia: the "New World Order" takes shape

the editorial board, 25 March 1999

Also in Serbo-Croatian

Dayton Accord near collapse: the political crisis in Bosnia

By Justus Leicht, 24 March 1999

As NATO prepares to impose the so-called Dayton II model for Kosovo by military force, Dayton I--the "peace accord" for Bosnia adopted four years ago--is falling apart.

War in Kosovo draws nearer

By Peter Schwarz, 23 March 1999

Following the renewed breakdown of the Kosovo conference in Paris, the danger of a bloody war in the Balkans, with incalculable consequences, draws nearer. Despite intensive last minute diplomatic efforts to avoid a military conflict, the logic of events is leading inevitably to war.

US, NATO threaten bombing in Yugoslavia

By Martin McLaughlin, 20 March 1999

NATO warplanes could strike targets in Yugoslavia within a week, US and European officials warned Friday after the collapse of talks outside Paris over the future of Kosovo province. Some 400 US and European warplanes are being readied to launch the air strikes, which would follow cruise missile launches from half a dozen US warships in the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. The US planes, which make up fully half the NATO force, would include B-52 bombers equipped with additional cruise missiles.

Kosovo peace talks

The failure of the Rambouillet conference

By Peter Schwarz, 26 February 1999

The Kosovo conference held at Rambouillet, near Paris, came to an end on Tuesday without any tangible results. Despite massive pressure on the part of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, neither of the two parties to the conflict agreed to the demands of the "Contact Group". These had proposed a wide-ranging autonomy for Kosovo within the framework of the Serbian state. This was to be secured through the stationing of a 28,000-strong "peace force" under the umbrella of NATO.

Clinton to send Marines to Kosovo

By Martin McLaughlin, 16 February 1999

The United States will contribute 4,000 soldiers, including 1,000 Marines, who will be the spearhead of a NATO intervention force in Kosovo, President Clinton announced during his nationwide Saturday radio address. It was Clinton's first major policy announcement since surviving his Senate impeachment trial.

NATO threatens force in Kosovo

By Justus Leicht and Peter Schwarz, 4 February 1999

Last weekend the six-nation Contact Group (United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia) posed an ultimatum to the conflicting parties in Kosovo. They are demanding that discussions begin in Rambouillet, Paris by February 6. Agreement on a transitional solution to the crisis must be reached by February 20.

Crisis in Kosovo intensifies

By Justus Leicht and Peter Schwarz, 28 January 1999

Three months after the Kosovo peace deal brokered by US representative Richard Holbrooke and Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic, the threat of war in the Balkans looms once again.

How the WRP joined the NATO camp

Imperialist war in the Balkans and the decay of the petty-bourgeois left

International Committee Fourth International, 14 December 1995

Fifty years after the end of World War II, the great powers are once again embarked on a violent redivision of the world. This is the significance of the intervention by the United States and Western Europe into the four-year-old conflict caused by the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

Marxism, Opportunism and the Balkan Crisis

International Committee Fourth International, 7 May 1994

The following statement was originally published by the International Committee of the Fourth International in 1994, in the midst of the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia. In light of the present NATO bombardment of Serbia, the issues addressed below—the history of the Balkan region, the attempts made to free it from manipulation by the major imperialist powers, and the struggle of the Marxists to unite workers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds to establish a socialist federation—have an immense and immediate significance.

Marxism, Opportunism and the Balkan Crisis

International Committee Fourth International, 7 May 1994

The following statement was originally published by the International Committee of the Fourth International in 1994, in the midst of the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia. In light of the present NATO bombardment of Serbia, the issues addressed below—the history of the Balkan region, the attempts made to free it from manipulation by the major imperialist powers, and the struggle of the Marxists to unite workers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds to establish a socialist federation—have an immense and immediate significance.