The 1999 Kosovo War and the Crisis in U.S.-Russia Relations

We are excited to present you the newest article published by Stephan Kieninger, on The International History Review. Dr Kieninger is a prominent historian and an important member of the Cold War Research Network, whose research projects focus on the history of the United States’ foreign relations and European Security.

Abstract: Based on recently declassified U.S. sources from the Clinton Presidential Library and the State Department’s Freedom of Information Act Virtual Reading Room, this article looks into Bill Clinton’s and Boris Yeltsin’s statecraft to save the post-Cold War U.S.- Russia partnership during the Kosovo War in 1999. The war deepened the rift between Russia and the West jeopardizing the policy of mutual integration and accommodation. Clinton’s and Yeltsin’s personal diplomacy helped Russia to play a constructive role in the search for a peace settlement and the complete withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosovo. Despite domestic protest in Moscow, Yeltsin did not join Milosevic but chose to work with the United States and salvage Russia’s relationship with the West.

If you are interested in discovering more about this topic, follow this link: https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2020.1848899.