Foreign Policy Perspectives and Superpower Politics: Competition of U.S. And Russia Over Kosovo

Kosovo’s proclamation of independence in 2008 led various reflections on U.S. and Russia. While the president George W. Bush looked with favor of Kosovo’s declaration, Russia argued that it was a infringement of international law and of Serbia’s territorial integrity. The 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that to a certain extent gained Kosovo an additional impetus to break away from Serbia and Montenegro, is debated to this day since it was not supported by the United Nations Security Council. The policy of non-intervention and exempting local authorithy from foreign influences are two primary objectives of the Westphalian model – the main theoretical framework on which this article is built. Drawing on these two main objectives, the paper tackles with the issue of Kosovo’s statehood from the perspective of both the U.S. and Russia. While Kosovo’s statehood is the focal point, the Western Balkan region is put in the spotlight to serve as a stage for competing superpowers.