ABSTRACT
A European culture with dubious historical reputation for cosmopolitanism is being thrust upon the global stage at the very moment when its geopolitical concepts are poised on the precipice of desuetude. In 2003, the UN Commission on Human Security expanded the concept to include protection for peoples suffering through violent conflict, for those who are dislocated, for those in post-conflict situations, and for protecting and improving conditions of poverty, health, and knowledge. The fact remains that Kosovo war was illegal, and not only because it lacked Security Council authorization: Serbia had not committed any aggression against another state but was slaughtering its own ethnic Albanian population. The European Union appears to have incorporated the recognitions as a basic ethos in approaching security. The European Union may help to propel the debate toward a more powerful, definitive and understandable solution.
