Case 179 - Yugoslavia, 1991-1992: Could Diplomacy Have Prevented a Tragedy?

by ISD - Georgetown University
$ 4.50

Bjork, James E. and Allan E. Goodman

The disintegration of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s was an early, and unwelcome, reminder that the end of the Cold War did not automatically make the world any more orderly, or safer. As brinkmanship among top political leaders in the constituent republics precipitated a descent into brutal ethnic warfare, diplomatic efforts by the United States, Western Europe, and the United Nations to forestall open conflict proved unsuccessful. This case study conveys to students the difficulties negotiators faced in dealing with the Yugoslav crisis. It also challenges them to consider diplomatic options and opportunities that international political leaders may have neglected.