particularly interrealtion of coping and shadow or parallel economies. Political Economy Analysis therefore provides an additional tool to examine in what ways the presence of a military base affects the local community. Coupled with the ‘thick description’ of the case study including interviews with locally hired staff, local businesses and community leaders; and, governmental and non-governmental organization studies, the political economy analysis of the post conflict environment can illustrate the ways military bases influence interests, incentives and constraints at the local level and provide insights toward enduring and sustainable peacebuilding. Hence, the political, social and economic factors of the three communities of interest, Ferizaj, Prizren and Gjakova, are examined to ascertain whether, and in what ways, the military base influences its’ surrounding community. This research therefore, helps to fill a wide gap in knowledge, and contributes to post-conflict studies and International Relations theory.
3.3 Case Study Selection
The Republic of Kosovo5 (Kosovo) is one of the newest states globally. As of the 2011 census, Kosovo’s population was approximately 1.8 million, with an overall ethnic Albanian majority of just over 92% (ASK, 2012).6 Ethnic Serbs accounted for 5.3%, and all other minorities combined are estimated at 2.7% (Brunborg, 2002)7. According to the World Bank, Kosovo’s population grew at a rate of 0.86% in 2012 (Bank, 2012), and thus these proportions are likely to be nearly identical at the end of the research period in 2016.
Prior to its unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008, Kosovo was the
southernmost province of Serbia, and historically among the poorest regions in the Balkans. Particularly during the Cold War period, the predominantly ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo
5The Republic of Kosovo has not been fully recognized by all of 193 UN members, including Serbia, from which it declared independence in 2008. As of late 2015, 108 of 193 countries have formally recognized Kosovo’s independence.
6 The 2011 Census was boycotted by Serbs in northern Kosovo, especially in vicinity of Mitrovica, and in southern Kosovo by Serbs and Roma, resulting in a population of 1.5 and 1.1% respectively, therefore, previous data are used. 7Bromberg’s 2002 population figures of 5.3% Kosovo Serb and 2.7% for all others identifying neither Albanian or Serb are used in place of the official 2011 percentages
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experienced varying levels of economic investment; cultural and linguistic autonomy and local control. However, continued lack of adequate investment and regional political malfeasance, coupled with the persistent and increasing discrimination of ethnic Albanians, led to
widespread demonstrations and eventually demands for independence. The “Dayton Accords”8 failure to include Kosovo’s status in its final agreement in 1995 incited guerilla style harassment of Kosovo’s Serb minority by the covert Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), to which the central, predominantly Serb government responded with overwhelming force, including ‘ethnic cleansing’ tactics. As conflict escalated into open war and Kosovo Albanian and Serb refugees threatened regional stability, the international community, particularly NATO military forces, intervened.
The war in Kosovo ended in June 1999 with the adoption of UN Resolution 1244 which established the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and authorized the posting of approximately 50,000 multi-national military forces, the Kosovo Forces, known as KFOR, for oversight and security. Although UNMIK officially terminated its oversight mission in 2012, UN advisors, EULEX9 and KFOR remain. The number of military personnel posted in Kosovo have been reduced from the initial deployment of 50,000 to less than 20,000, however continued strained relations between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia still fuel antagonistic acts by factions of former belligerents. These prolong a fear of renewed conflict by NATO and military leaders, thereby extending the presence of the multi- national military forces in Kosovo (Cook, 2008)
3.3.1 Kosovo as Case Study
Kosovo was selected as a case study because it offers three significant characteristics: first, a substantial and active presence of multi-national military forces operating in a peacekeeping
8The Dayton Agreement or Dayton Accords is a colloquialism for the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) meeting held at Wright-Paterson Airforce Base near Dayton, Ohio, United States to end hostilities between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina
9European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo: a civilian task force to support law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary to facilitate use of international legal standards.
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environment that has continuously interacted with its community. Second, a long political trusteeship, which tends to limit the agency of actors at both the federal and the local community level, and therefore community leaders may establish relationships with the military base to serve as a ‘political voice.’ Third, Kosovo has received a high level of technical and economic investment by the international community10 in parallel with military operations within the same compact area for over a decade, thus comparison of the effects of the practices of military bases on communities may be more efficiently and effectively studied.
The period of study of these bases in Kosovo is approximately twelve years; beginning in 1999 upon the implementation of UN Resolution 1244, which ended open conflict in Kosovo, to mid- 2012 when the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) officially terminated its supervision. This period also provides a sufficient passage of time to examine the social, political and
economic changes occurring since the arrival of the international community and military forces in Kosovo, and to observe its evolving political economy.
3.3.2 Kosovo’s Permissive Environment
In addition to Kosovo’s structural usefulness as a case study to examine the effects of the day- to-day practices of military bases established in a post conflict environment, Kosovo’s post conflict environment is also militarily suitable. Research where military peacekeeping forces are deployed is inherently risky. However, the Republic of Kosovo provides a uniquely safe, or permissive11 environment; there have been few extended outbreaks of violence since the riots in 2004, and KFOR actively maintains a force of nearly 20,000 soldiers for a population of approximately 2 million people to maintain a “safe and secure environment”. Thus, this is research design was able to be conducted in a relatively straightforward manner, and required
10 Rossi states Kosovo is relatively stable in appearance, but remains in a ‘frozen conflict’ concerning relations between Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, stultifying political, social and economic progress (Rossi, 2013) 11A combat environment where one does not need to have a high degree of fear for personal or unit safety. According to the United States Joint Publication 3-0 (JP 3-0) a permissive environment is one “in which the host country military and law enforcement agencies have control, as well as the intent and capability to assist operations that a unit intends to conduct”.
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no extraordinary concerns for the physical security of participants or in the ability to travel freely, in contrast with locations where overt hostility and violence have not yet ceased. 3.3.3 Community Selection
KFOR bases are located in Kosovo’s larger cities. This research is formed by a comparison of three cities, or communities, in their same-named municipalities: Ferizaj and Prizren, each of which has a Kosovo Forces (KFOR) military base that was established in 1999; and Gjakova, which shares several physical characteristics of both Ferizaj and Prizren but does not have a military base. Camp Monteith, a US military base in the municipality of Gjilan12 is included in this research as it was operated concurrently by the US military for five years, and a large number of workers were transferred to Camp Bondsteel when Camp Monteith closed in 2005. The bases in Ferizaj, (Camp Bondsteel), and Prizren, (Camp Prizren), have continued their operations without interruption since 1999. The cities of Ferizaj and Prizren were chosen because they are both majority Kosovo Albanian cities, and the US and Germany deployed similar sized military forces13 to these bases. The largest city and capital of the Republic of Kosovo, Pristina, with an official population of 199,868 (OSCE, 2013) was specifically not included in the research. The reasons for its non-selection are twofold: first, Pristina includes the NATO Headquarters for Kosovo as well as a number of small single NATO-member military contingents. Second, Pristina also contains a substantial international non-military presence, including embassies and international and non-governmental organizations’ headquarters, most of which are physically concentrated in the same small part of the city. Thus, discerning the particular effects of the military presence from the international civilian presence becomes problematic and Pristina was eliminated for study.
12The Municipality of Gjilan is adjacent to the Municipality of Ferizaj; the bases were approximately 15 miles apart, sharing administration.
13The Italian military force in Peja is one of the smallest, 2,300 personnel, and is less than half of the US forces in Ferizaj (7,000) or German forces in Prizren (8,500). The French military deployed 7,000 personnel to Mitrovica, which has a substantial proportion of Kosovo Serb.