Shaping the Course of Conflict: The Role of British Foreign Policy in the Kosovo War of ۱۹۹۹

The article examines the decisive role played by the United Kingdom in shaping the international response to the ۱۹۹۹ Kosovo War, focusing on how British foreign policy under Prime Minister Tony Blair's leadership balanced moral imperatives against strategic interests to enable NATO humanitarian intervention. Employing a constructivist framework in international relations coupled with middle-power diplomacy theory, it analyzes the UK's construction of humanitarian norms and transatlantic bridging in times of legal and geopolitical strain. Employing a qualitative case study method, the research draws on primary sources like declassified Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents, Blair's speeches, and NATO archives, as well as secondary literature through thematic content analysis and process-tracing. Evidence shows that Britain's 'ethical foreign policy' was a normative driver, pressuring NATO without UN Security Council authorization and contributing to the evolution of the Responsibility to Protect (R۲P) norm, illustrating tensions between moral rhetoric and experiential outcomes like civilian casualties. By closing gaps in existing scholarship regarding middle-power agency in European security crises, this study contributes to debates surrounding humanitarian intervention, with lessons for current conflicts in the Balkans and beyond, highlighting the need for legal legitimacy and post-intervention planning.

کلیدواژه ها:

British foreign policy ، Kosovo War ، Humanitarian intervention ، NATO