ABSTRACT

The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the most radical contemporary manifestation of an old idea, namely that the administration and sovereignty of failed states and contested territories could be entrusted to international organizations and powerful states acting on behalf of international society.1 The practice of international administration has a long history stretching back at least to the end of the First World War. Some of the most prominent examples have been the League of Nations Mandates System and its successor, the UN Trusteeship System. However, during the period of decolonization, the practice lost its legitimacy and seemingly died. For that reason, it was somewhat unexpected that international administrations should resurface in the 1990s. Beginning in 1995 with the administration of Bosnia, under the auspices of the Office of the High Representative, and culminating in 1999 with the UN administrations of Kosovo and East Timor, international organizations have taken on responsibility for governing entire peoples and territories.