Kosovo Crossing: The Reality of American Intervention in the Balkans

by David Fromkin

In Kosovo Crossing, bestselling historian David Fromkin examines the clash between American ideals and Balkan realities on the battlefields of Kosovo. Leading NATO into the first war of its fifty-year existence, America sought to carve out a new role both for the alliance and for itself by establishing a world order. Yet like the other crises of the late twentieth century -- in Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, and Rwanda -- this war, in a land long plagued by deadly conflict, revealed the limits of America's power to reshape the world. Brilliantly weaving military, political, and historical analysis, Fromkin forges a new understanding of the paths that American leaders must explore to advance American values abroad.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 1999

About the author

David Henry Fromkin was an American historian, best known for his interpretive account of the Middle East, A Peace to End All Peace (1989), in which he recounts the role European powers played between 1914 and 1922 in creating the modern Middle East. The book was a finalist for both the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Fromkin wrote seven books, ending in 2007 with The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners.

Reviews

[Christopher Roth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't read anything by Fromkin before, but I know a lot about the Balkans, and I must say, this is an excellent contextualized overview of the history and geopolitics of Serbia and Kosovo and Albania, especially good on the political dynamics of the aftermath of World War I. But then when he gets up to the present day (2000 in this case), suddenly this cockamamie idea takes hold of him that somehow, magically, in the 1990s, all global political realities fell away and Bush Sr./Clinton post-Cold-War multilateralism becomes this pure vector of Wilsonian idealism and altruism, unsullied by Realpolitik. Now, granted, it's not easy to evaluate the longue-durée political context of immediate events, and it is easy to get swept up in the emotions and rhetoric of them—if you're not a professional historian, that is, so I expect better from Fromkin. I mean, seriously, did he not realize that the NATO intervention in Kosovo was a way of containing Russia and a way of trying to maintain NATO's relevance in the changed, post-Soviet world?, and that otherwise they wouldn't have bothered? I mean, was it not enough to see how the world reacted, in the early 1990s, to genocide in white European Bosnia (hand-wringing, sanctimony, urgency) and simultaneously to genocide in Rwanda (Wanda who? oh, poor black people? ah, let 'em kill each other) to understand that we have not moved beyond gross politics quite yet in this world? What is with this guy anyway? What is he peddling?, or is he just dense?

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fromkin, historian and international relations professor at Boston University, discusses the vicissitudes of power, focusing on the Balkan crises of the 1990s, on the one hand, and on the apparent superpower hegemony achieved by the United States during that period. What, he asks, are the constraints upon the utilization of such power? His answer may be found, he thinks, in the case of Kosovo--a case still unfolding today (2016) as it was at the time of publication (1999)--and prefigured, for instance, in the case of Korea. This is, in other words, a study of the limits of power.

It is also an outline of a history of the superpowers since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of European nation-states, a story he tells clearly, if quite conventionally and from an American perspective. Most controversial, perhaps, is his claim that global power was more thrust upon the USA than sought, and that primarily by the British after the two world wars.

[Isabel Giraldo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first half of the book was about American history. Most of the second half was about European and Asia Minor history well before Kosovo. When Fromkin FINALLY starts talking about Kosovo, I realize he doesn't actually know the reality of American intervention in the Balkans, but he makes an educated guess.

You can tell he did not consult a SINGLE Balkan person about this topic. Looking at the Bibliography, the ONLY Balkan source he consulted was a Balkan history book written in 1983. The other 34 names were western names.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a book about Kosovo per se but a recounting of American foreign policy development over the last 100 years ending in the American bombing of Serbs in Kosovo. Interesting conclusions about foreign policy options moving forward. Very well thought out and thought provoking and well worth reading if interested in foreign policy and the use of military might.

[Paul Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book expecting to learn more about the background behind the Serbian-Kosovo War as well as the causes for the breakup of Yugoslavia. I probably shod have researched the book more as this is a very good book about America's involvement in the Kosovo War in light of our foreign policy initiatives. I wish the book was less concise and more expansive, but it is well written and thought-provoking.

[Meriah Kirschstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

so interesting. picked this up at a little free library cause the options were very slim pickings. but really interesting. I would say a downfall is that he covers so much info that it is a rather broad overview and doesn’t get into anything super super well. also , for being called Kosovo crossing, there’s approximately four chapters of actual Kosovo content . but for someone who is enjoying expanding their history knowledge (me) I really liked this

[Yeongbae K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find it odd that the author would devote almost half of the book in the first chapters to talk about topics that did not relate to Kosovo or the Balkans.

If I had known, I would not have bought the book.

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good analysis of the limits of what American foreign policy can accomplish, and also some of its failings. It was written in 1999, so I wonder what Fromkin would say about everything that’s happened post-9/11.

[Devin Creed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very introductory, questionable foreign policy principles

[Punky Brewster · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Humanitarian" reasons

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are unaware of the complexities of conducting foreign policy, this book is a pretty good introduction. Basically, Kosovo stands in for any area of foreign policy that is not of vital importance to the United States.

I can't really recommend it, because most of it is pretty common sense, unless you are new to the field. Of course, the fact that the current administration made most of the mistakes that Fromkin warned about is only a disheartening sign of how little our foreign policy establishment has learned from history.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good foreign policy background but lacking in information that the title implies will be in the book (the causes and impacts of America's involvement in the Balkans). To be fair, it was written in 1999, so perhaps a lot of the material he needed to write a more convincing argument was classified. Twelve years have passed and Kosovo is now a country. It might be time for this, or another, author to re-explore this topic.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you're not that interested in the history of the Balkan powder keg, as I am, this book is a great little primer on world history beginning with the 20th century. Can't remember why World Wars I and II happened in the first place? Me neither. Read this book--it gives a very easy-to-follow explanation.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Fromkin's history of the troubled province and American efforts to promote stability. Fromkin places events in the former Yugoslavia in a larger context of world politics and leaves the reader with a lot to think about in terms of American power and world events. He also got me to read "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon", and the book is worth reading for that reason alone.

[Jjosepsetiono]

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