Hospitality is the Law of the Mountains: The 1999 Kosovo Refugee Crisis in Albania

FAIN: FT-270803-20

Mary Elizabeth Walters
Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS 66506-0100)

Research and writing for completion of a book on the 1999 Kosovo Refugee Crisis in Albania

This project is the first historical account of the 1999 Kosovo Refugee Crisis. It focuses on the actions of the U.S. military and Albanians and how their efforts combined to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. The U.S. military’s approach was utilitarian and centered on logistics. Over the period of the crisis, however, military personnel came to know both Kosovar refugees and surrounding Albanian communities and adjusted their approach to better fit the needs of refugees and communities. Albanian communities and local governments, meanwhile, turned to the historic concept of mikpritja (hospitality) to understand why and how to help the Kosovar refugees, ultimately motivating Albanian families to shelter sixty-six percent of all refugees. This study provides insight into two very different approaches to mass migration and, as a result, gestures towards the rich potential of looking beyond the standard narratives of humanitarian aid and refugee assistance.

Associated Products

A Tantalizing Success: The 1999 Kosovo War (Article)
Title: A Tantalizing Success: The 1999 Kosovo War
Author: Mary Elizabeth Walters
Abstract: While Allied Force was a resounding success, many studies of Kosovo assume that the key to that success lay with the actions of the U.S. and NATO.[9] This trend is present in much of the broader literature on interventions, which often focus on the intervening power—whether that is the U.S., NATO, or a coalition of states. But the outcome of an intervention does not just depend on what the intervening power wants or does. A huge amount depends on the local crisis, who the local factions are, and how they relate to the intervener.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2021/7/9/a-tantalizing-success-the-1999-kosovo-war
Access Model: open access
Format: Journal
Publisher: The Strategy Bridge

The 1999 Kosovo War: Bombing, Ethnic Cleansing, and Peacekeeping (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The 1999 Kosovo War: Bombing, Ethnic Cleansing, and Peacekeeping
Abstract: My talk, "The 1999 Kosovo War: Bombing, Ethnic Cleansing, and Peacekeeping," will look at the possibilities and limits of military intervention. Twenty-two years ago NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a bombing campaign that aimed to stop Serbia's brutal ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. Meant to last a few days, Operation Allied Force instead took 78 days to force Slobodan Milosevic to terms. Milosevic's campaign of ethnic cleansing almost succeeded - out of a population of some 2 million roughly 1.5 million Kosovars were displaced, with 900,000 becoming refugees in neighboring countries. As a result of NATO's intervention, however, most Kosovars were able to return to their homes by the end of August 1999. Operation Allied Force, while critical, marked the beginning not the end of NATO's involvement in Kosovo. Even today NATO maintains a peacekeeping presence in Kosovo.
Author: Mary Elizabeth Walters
Date: 03/16/2021
Location: The Citadel, Charleston SC (via zoom)

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