ABSTRACT
The emergence of a new state is the product of a non-linear and complex process consisting of multiple stages, different generations of actors, and various political, diplomatic, and military methods. This chapter provides a contextual account of Kosovo’s recent journey to statehood by outlining major developments that characterised its struggle for independence and sovereign statehood. The analysis focusses mainly on the domestic determinants of state-becoming, unpacking the role of local actors and core political processes covering three distinct phases: the campaign for independence that began in the early 1990s; the period of UN transitional administration; and finally, the foreign policy pursued by Kosovo as an independent state. The discussion in this chapter intends to elaborate the historical bedrock and origins of Kosovo’s discursive-based performative diplomacy of international recognition and membership in international organisations. The three phases of crafting Kosovo’s statehood performed different functions which ultimately added moral, legal, political, and normative legitimacy to the entire campaign for independence, statebuilding, and international recognition.
