ABSTRACT
The conflict over Kosovo in 1999 and the military actions undertaken by NATO and company in that context can be seen—as the critics would see it—as the last typical war of the twentieth century, but also as the first of the twenty-first—as NATO would like to portray it. In the former view it was only the most recent manifestation of a traditional struggle over power and influence in the Balkans, over competing nationalist claims and incompatible definitions of identity and nationhood. In the latter definition it is the first of a new kind of international use of force, not aimed at protecting or furthering traditional national interests, but at protecting people and their fundamental rights. Protagonists of this humanitarian interpretation like Messrs Clinton and Blair would like to see it as paradigmatic and as a model for the future. One essential condition for that to happen is that there should be public support for such military operations, which is what concerns us here. More than in any earlier recent conflict, the question of the degree of public support for the various options and strategies available has taken a central place in the public debate and the calculations of decision makers.
