Recognizing independence unqualified is
not a good idea -
though you probably are aware of this,
it can be the start of wars rather than the end.
The hasty recognition of Croatia by Germany
and then the West, without
any guarantees of minority rights, started
the whole damn yugoslav war.
Whether the aim is to blackmail a bully
or not, this is important.
Eva
>
> I think it's a damn good idea, and I don't see anything simpleminded
> about it at all. It is certainly a bit off topic for this group, but
> I'm prepared to tolerate a brief digression. I wouldn't want to see
> it turn into a month long debate, though. My only reticence about it
> is I feel it's probably too late to be used effectively in Kosovo,
> as at this point it would just look like NATO backing up another
> step and drawing another line in the sand after the Serbs have stepped
> over the twenty or so drawn before. As a principle for dealing with
> military responses to national aspirations, I think it has great merit,
> though I would suggest that many nations might fear that the support
> of it would be against the interests of their own territorial
> integrity. However, it is an idea whose time has really come.
> The UN and other treaty organizations such as NATO have done a lot
> in the last 50 years to end wars between sovereign nations, so now
> most mass violence is confined to within the boundaries of states.
> Up til now, the international community has been reluctant to
> step in to `internal' affairs, but in the last few years, without
> major internation conflicts to command attention, the desire is growing
> to develop a mechanism whereby the security of groups under persecution
> by their state can be sanctioned by the world community. Your proposal
> offers such a mechanism.
>
> Knowing how world consensus proceeds, I expect it would take several
> years for this concept to gain acceptance, but I suspect it would
> find some champions immediately. We in Canada, with our own minority
> perennially considering devolution, have come, I think, to accept
> that the only mature way to handle this issue is by democratic
> choice, negotiation and compromise. I see it as part of the continual
> advancement of the "goalposts" of civilized behaviour. As peace
> becomes more widespread in the world, expectations of peaceful
> behaviour become stronger.
> -Pete Vincent
>
>
