The Politicus
columnist: jposty

Topic: Foreign Policy
America's Interventionism: A Dangerous Precedent

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A look at recent developments in Eastern Europe, specifically between the US, Russia, EU, Kosovo and Georgia.

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by jposty
(Libertarian)
Friday, March 7, 2008

America in conjunction with other leading European nations in an unprecedented move, recognized Kosovo as an independent nation late last February. As was reported in a variety of news organizations including here and here, it was a widely unpopular move with Russia. Putin and Medvedev both denounced Europe and America's intervention and cited International law.

The requirements for statehood under international law are: control of a fixed and defined territory, a permanent population, a government and finally the ability to enter into relations with other states. Kosovo does not maintain any semblance of control in its northern region and it has questionable sovereignty, since all of its decisions are subject to both UN and EU vetoes.

By officially declaring itself separate, Kosovo's Albanians put their hopes on those countries in the world whose foreign policy values self-determination aspirations higher than the principle of territorial integrity.

Kosovo is hoping interventionist nations will interfere with the will of a sovereign nation and International Law and recognize the Albanians as a progressive democratic minded Muslim state. Which is why the Bush administration was quick to show support for the Albanians. Bush will be able to tout this as freedom and democracy in action, and will undoubtedly refer to them as an allied Muslim nation allied with America in its 'global war on terror'.

Law of unintended consequences are outcomes that are not (or not limited to) what the actor intended in a particular situation. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, but they should be the logical or likely results of the action.

Pridnestrovie (also known as Transdniestria) currently meets all of the requirements for statehood under international law. Kosovo, which has no control of its northern part, does not yet meet the territorial requirement. It is also unclear whether its government is truly sovereign, since any decision which it takes is subject to UN and EU vetoes.

The government of Pridnestrovie has repeatedly said that it has a better case for statehood than Kosovo, based on both historical facts and international law. It welcomes Kosovo as a precedent, however, because any country which recognizes Kosovo will be hard pressed to explain why it then doesn't also recognize Pridnestrovie and any other states in similar circumstances.

Which leads us to Today: The breakaway Abkhazia region in Georgia has called on the UN and other international bodies to recognize it as independent.

In its appeal, Abkhazia said it had "established itself as an independent, democratic, law-governed state". In addition to the UN, the appeal went to the European Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Russian parliament.

On Wednesday, Georgia's other breakaway region, South Ossetia, asked the UN and other international bodies to recognise its independence.

Georgia and other EU nations are already claiming Russia has had a subversive hand in the sudden move toward independence. The move comes after Russia lifted the sanctions on the region that was imposed in 1996. Georgia's foreign ministry is claiming that Russia is deliberately and overtly undermining their sovereignty. The ministry even went as far as to claim Russia was "abandoning its duty not to supply weapons of all kinds and military equipment to the Abkhaz side".

Although, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov, stated this move had nothing to do with the Kosovo issue, many in the West disagree. Once again, America attempts to be noble in acknowledging freedom and liberty in Eastern Europe have gone awry. There will always be unintended consequences where intervention is involved, especially when radical precedent is established in contradiction to accepted International Law practices.

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2008 jposty, all rights reserved.
Published: Friday, March 7, 2008
Last modified: Saturday, March 8, 2008

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