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Legitimacy and International Administration: The Ahtisaari Settlement for Kosovo from a Human Security Perspective

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 15; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13533310802396160

1743-906X

Denisa Kostovicova,

Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics

Abstract Legitimacy is recognized as critical to the success of international administrations in their efforts to build and promote peace, stability and welfare in post-conflict territories. Nonetheless, scholarship on statebuilding is dominated by the 'managerial' approach, which offers a top-down analysis of policies by international actors and their impact on local constituencies. With its focus on the grass roots, the individual and a multiplicity of concerns, a human security perspective on international administration can identify and address their legitimacy gap, resulting in strategies for more effective conflict resolution. The argument is illustrated by analysis of the Ahtisaari process and plan for Kosovo's final status. Acknowledgements This article draws on the author's research for the Human Security Study Group convened by Professor Mary Kaldor and the project, 'Human Security in Kosovo', at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics and Political Science. The author thanks anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. Notes See Table I in Kanti Bajpai, 'Human Security: Concept and Management', working paper, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Studies accessed at www.ciaonet.org/wps/baj01. Sabina Alkire, 'Concepts of Human Security', in Lincoln Chen et al. (eds), Human Insecurity in a Global World, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, pp.15–39. Bajpai (see n.1 above). Neil Cooper, 'Review Article: On the Crisis of the Liberal Peace', Conflict, Security and Development, Vol.7, No.4, pp.605–16, at p.615. Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh and Anuradha M. Chenoy, Human Security: Concepts and Implications, London: Routledge, 2007, pp.57–68. 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The grass roots views were captured by 'Kosovo Future Status Process: Knowledge–Attitudes–Practices (KAP) Survey', Strategic Marketing Research, Belgrade, and Kosovo Institute for Policy Research and Development, Prishtina, 19 July 2006, accessed at www.smmri.co.yu. 'Problematic Initiative of Pieter Feith', Zëri (Prishtina), in OSCE Monitor Final Edition, 23 Jun. 2008. 'Public Information on Ahtisaari's Settlement Document: Analyses and Recommendations on Community Roundtables and Public Town Hall Meetings', Advocacy Training and Resource Centre, Prishtina, 6 Jul. 2007. Key Serbian Orthodox churches have been under NATO protection since 1999, but did not have a special status as such. Interview (see n.57 above). According to the International Crisis Group, the absence of Albanians' input was due to their failure to provide a detailed proposal to Ahtisaari and his team. 'Kosovo: No Good Alternatives to the Ahtisaari Plan', International Crisis Group, Report 182, 14 May 2007, p.18. Interview (see n.45 above). 'Kosovo Does Not Win Everything with Ahtisaari's Plan', Koha Ditore, OSCE Monitor Final Edition, 13 Aug. 2007. 'Propast plana – državni interes' [Failure of the Plan – the State Interest], Radio B92 (Belgrade), 28 Mar. 2007, accessed at www.b92.net. Humanitarian aid from Serbia was suddenly withdrawn from dissenting individuals and their families. Author's interview with Serb journalist in Kosovo, Prishtina, 7 Sept. 2007. Ibid. 'Kosovo: Kada će se Srbi dogovoriti?' [Kosovo: When Will the Serbs Agree?], Radio B92, 17 Oct. 2005, accessed at www.b92.net. Anamari Repić, 'Kosovski Srbi propustili ulogu u statusnom procesu' [Kosovo Serbs Without a Role in the Status Process], Gradjanski glasnik (Prishtina), 1–14 Jun. 2007, p.8. 'Kula Balkana', Emisija Peščanik [Balkan Tower, Programme Peščanik], Radio B92, 23 Apr. 2008, accessed at www.b92.net. 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Brinkerhoff, 'Introduction – Governance Challenges in Fragile States', in Brinkerhoff (ed.) Governance in Post-Conflict Societies: Rebuilding Fragile States, London and New York: Routledge, 2007, pp.1–21, at p.18. S. Neil MacFarlane and Yuen Foong Khong, Human Security and the UN: A Critical History, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 2006, p.246.