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I beg to differ: indeed US policy was coordinated with Germany's on this one since the 80's.
The US quest for global hegemony has persisted for over a century. Only the methods evolve. Rear Admiral A. Mahan, a prominent late XIX-century US geostrategist, emphasized the importance of the sea power, military activity, and the strategy of strangling Eurasian continental powers in the «anaconda coils». US President W. Wilson espoused the idea of a «peaceful» partition of rival countries and their subsequent occupation. US President W. Taft suggested using the US dollar as the instrument of subduing other nations. The common elements of those strategies were both the idea of the US global dominance and the notion that Russia had to be chosen as the prime target of such efforts. Kosovo is no stranger to this game. Sorry.
by vladimir on Mon Dec 10th, 2007 at 04:04:40 PM EST
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You know, in the late 1990's I heard vague accusations from Serb colleagues that the Balkan wars were encouraged by the US (ostensibly to weaken the non-aligned movement) and dismissed them as conspiracy theories. Now I'm not so sure.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Dec 10th, 2007 at 04:13:52 PM EST
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I have no doubt about this. I also know that the IMF was involved in causing chaos in Yugo in the 1980s. But that's a long way from purposely triggering calamity in 1990-1991. They could have easily peeled off the republics in other manners.

You'll have to tell me why the Americans dithered, what they could have hoped to gain by dithering. In fact, many point to the Reagan-Neo/Con connections to Yugo defense structures as a reason why the US actually favored the Serbs in the 1980s.

Here, read the NY Times on the US's positioning:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3D8153DF93BA35757C0A964958260&sec=&spon= &pagewanted=all

by Upstate NY on Mon Dec 10th, 2007 at 05:01:05 PM EST
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