Victory Through Consensus

When former college professor Madeleine Albright was asked by a reporter if she had learned any lessons from waging a campaign to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, she responded that watching the 19 NATO members act "has been a very exciting way of watching democracies operate."

After mentioning the role of the U.N. and other European organizations, Secretary of State Albright added, "Practically everybody has been heard from."

Indeed, international consensus deserves much of the credit for bringing an apparent halt to Slobodan Milosevic's war against Kosovar Albanians.

The ingredients of that consensus included a mixture of White House-led superpower diplomacy; the U.N. Security Council; the so-called "G-8" leading industrialized nations; and the European Union -- combined with NATO's air campaign to drive home to Milosevic the extent of Belgrade's isolation. This became even more apparent when the International War Crimes Tribunal -- another international body -- indicted Milosevic as a war criminal.

While the combined efforts of the most influential members of the world may be headed for victory, it has not been easy or pretty. Once the U.S. decided it would not or could not act alone, it became necessary to move more slowly than some -- both inside the administration and on Capitol Hill -- would have liked.

Reaching a consensus among so many geopolitical players meant making allowances for the political sensibilities of other governments, most prominently Russia, which Albright singled out for the role it has played.

Additionally, tender diplomatic egos have not had an easy time playing second fiddle to the United States. There was a light moment at a G-8 press conference when a reporter asked who would lead the international peacekeeping force going into Kosovo. To laughter, Germany's Joschka Fischer, smiled and said "All military questions are handed over to the U.S. . . . A tiny little country."

After all the diplomatic negotiations, multilateral consultations and a good bit of political posturing from almost everyone, Albright was able to conclude, "We got what we came for." The rest is up to Slobodan Milosovic.

Nevertheless, there are some senior officials at the State Department who think Milosevic may yet have more hurdles to place in the path of peace.

By Charlie Wolfson
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