ABSTRACT
Since the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Western military intervention has officially two intertwined purposes: that of defeating international terrorism and simultaneously promoting democratization and human rights. In light of these developments, it is important to reappraise the war that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) conducted over Kosovo. A variety of competing pro- and antinarratives have coalesced over the NATO war in Kosovo. Critics of the NATO intervention assert that the war was not so much about safeguarding the human lives of oppressed people, but rather had different dynamics. The anti-NATO narratives maintain that the Western alliance intervened because the United States wanted to prove its hegemonic role in the Balkans and NATO aimed to expand its area of influence. These arguments are not fully supported by the findings. In Washington, there was no consensus among policy makers about how to react to the crisis.
