Description
This paper argues that a cleavage on international cooperation emerged within Kosova’s party system prior to the declaration of independence in 2008 and has influenced the party system. After the 1999 NATO intervention, Kosova became an international protectorate ruled by United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). UNMIK was initially considered as a state-builder, but five years after UNMIK’s rule in Kosova, divisions emerged among domestic political parties over the scope and nature of international involvement in domestic governance. These divisions and the roles different parties took gave rise to a cleavage between parties on how to relate to UNMIK but also role of the international community in Kosova in the final status talks. Drawing on U.S. diplomatic cables, media coverage, and interviews, as well as role theory this article traces the early formation of this cleavage among Kosovar political parties before the declaration of independence in 2008.
