ABSTRACT
The crisis in Kosovo developed from the dissolution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Although the conflict was late to flare up, compared with conflicts in Bosnia and Croatia, from the early 1980s ethnic tensions were apparent in Kosovo with elements of the Albanian Kosovar population seeking greater independence from Belgrade. During 1989, in the face of a growing Albanian Kosovar separatist movement, Milosevic exploited both the fears of the Serbian Kosovars1 and the desires of nationalist Serbs, who perceived Kosovo as the heartland of the Serb people, by withdrawing the limited autonomy granted to Kosovo. Over the next seven years Milosevic continued to repress the Kosovar Albanian population. In response Albanian Kosovars supported a strategy of non-violent opposition to Belgrade.
