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A debate concerning whether NATO and European forces in the Balkans require radical restructuring considered several arguments: (1) wide-ranging emergency powers of international organizations create an obstacle to democratization versus the need to prosecute notorious war criminals before the intervention is completed; (2) "ad hoc" international arrangements should be replaced with the European-led pre-accession process versus the ongoing challenge of maintaining security in Kosovo; and (3) local institutions are ready to provide security for minorities versus destruction of Bosnian democracy was caused by war, not by the High Representative.

In the world after September 11, international attention to the Balkans is declining. Western priorities are shifting, & drawing resources with them. The region's historic window of opportunity, which opened at the end of the 1990s, may be swinging shut. Changes to the transatlantic relationship will have multiple knock-on effects on policies & attitudes toward the region. These are likely to include the accelerated disengagement of the US from the direct management of the postwar Balkans. As developments in Macedonia in 2001 demonstrate, military, economic, & political responsibilities will be overwhelmingly assumed by the EU, its leading members &, in particular, by those West European countries -- such as Italy & Germany -- that are most exposed to Balkan instabilities. Adapted from the source document.

The debates [ ... ] were originally published in NATO Review [2004-2006]