US Neoconservative Support and Policy Activism for Bosnia, 1992–1995: Correcting the Record

Abstract

The aim of this article is to trace neoconservative thought in the US and policy activism on the role of the US in Bosnia during the 1992–1995 genocide. This paper argues that, on the issue of intervention in Bosnia, neoconservatives in the US comprised two camps. Neoconservative former government officials were early and consistent advocates of an assertive US intervention in Bosnia. However, the neoconservative academics were a heterogeneous group divided over the question of US intervention. Yet, both the former government officials and several academics came together in supporting President Bill Clinton's decision to deploy US troops to enforce the Dayton Peace Accords. While sharply criticized in the Muslim world for their Middle East policies, neoconservative advocacy for Bosnia and Bosnian Muslims during 1992–1995 has been largely overlooked. Analysing neoconservatives’ activism on Bosnia provides for a more nuanced understanding of the US neoconservative foreign policy legacy.

Notes

1. Justin Vaïsse, Neoconservatism: Biography of a Movement Translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010, p. 4.

2. Ibid., p. 6.

3. Henry “Scoop” Jackson (1912–1983) was a long-time Democratic Senator in US Senate and known for his ‘hawkish’ foreign policy views.

4. Ibid., pp. 11–12.

5. Justin Vaïsse, “Why Neoconservatism Still Matters” Policy Paper No. 20, May 2010, Foreign Policy at Brookings, 3–6. Accessed August 2, 2013. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2010/4/05%20neoconservatism%20vaisse/05_neoconservatism_vaisse.pdf.

6. Justin Vaïsse, Neoconservatism: Biography of a Movement Translated by Arthur Goldhammer, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 2010.

7. Maria Ryan, “Exporting Democracy'? Neoconservatism and the Limits of Military Intervention, 1989–2008”, Diplomacy & Statecraft, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2010, pp. 491–515.

8. David Halberstam, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals. New York: Scribner, 2001; SamanthaPower, A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002; Ivo H. Daalder, Getting to Dayton: The Making of America's Bosnia Policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2000; Bob Woodward, The Choice, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.

9. Noel Malcolm, Bosnia: A Short History, New York: New York University Press, 1996, pp. 213–225.

10. Edina Bećirević, “The issue of genocidal intent and denial of genocide: a case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, East European Politics and Societies, Vol. 24, No. 4, 2010, pp. 485.

11. Richard Holbrooke, To End a War. New York: The Modern Library, 1998; Samantha Power, A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.

12. Joshua Muravchik, “The Strange Debate Over Bosnia”, Commentary, November 1992, pp. 30–32; David Halberstam, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals. New York: Scribner, 2001, pp. 306–307.

13. Vin Weber, “Bosnia: Strange Alliances”, National Review, June 7, 1993, pp. 22–24.

14. Joshua Muravchik, “Can the Neocons Get Their Groove Back?”, The Washington Post, 19 November, 2006.

15. Paul D. Wolfowitz, “Clinton's First Year”, Foreign Affairs, January/February 1994, pp. 30–37.

16. “To Die in Sarajevo”, Policy Review, Fall/62, 1992.

17. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, and Morton I. Abramowitz, “Lift the Embargo”, New York Times, 20 April 1994.

18. Robert Kagan, “America, Bosnia, Europe”, The Weekly Standard, 6 November 1995, p. 20.

19. David Halberstam, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton and the Generals. New York: Scribner, 2001, pp. 141–142.

20. Partick Glynn, “See No Evil”, The New Republic, 25 October 1993, p. 29.

21. Zalmay Khalilzad, “Arm the Bosnians”, Washington Post, 28 December 1992.

22. Zalmay Khalilzad, “Stop Negotiating With Serbia”, The New York Times, 7 January 1993.

23. Steven A. Holmes, “Ex-Officials Urge U.S. to Act to End Serbian Siege”, New York Times, 19 February 1993.

24. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick and Morton I. Abramowitz, “Lift the Embargo”, New York Times, 20 April 1994.

25. “The Crisis in the Former Yugoslavia and the US Role, “Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs,” House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, September 29, 1993, p. 7.

26. Richard Perle, “Well Done, Mr. Aspin”, The Washington Post, 3 January 1994.

27. C-Span Video Library, “Clinton Foreign Policy”, Defense Forum Foundation, 20 May 1994. Accessed February 9, 2014 http://www.c-span.org/video/?56942-1/ClintonFo

28. Richard, Perle, and Richard Burt, “The Next Act in Bosnia”, New York Times, 11 February 1994.

29. Box 4, Arms Embargo—Action Council for Peace in the Balkans (Marshall Harris), May 1994, Bosnia Files, Frank McCloskey Congressional Papers, Modern Political Papers, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington, Indiana. The signatories of the letter were Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Hodding Carter, Max Kampelman, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Paul Nitze, Norman Podhoretz, George Shultz, Albert Wohlstetter and Elmo Zumwalt.

30. “United States Arms Embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Congressional Record, Vol. 141, No. 3, Friday, January 6, 1995.

31. Richard Perle, “Let the Bosnians Arm, and Bring the UN Forces Out”, New York Times, 20 July 1995.

32. Richard Perle, “Will We Finally Recognize The Right to Self-Defense?” The Washington Post, 19 July 1995.

33. Zalmay Khalilzad, “Give them the tools”, The New Republic, 7 August 1995, p. 17.

34. Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz, “Bosnia: Before We Send in Peacemakers”, The Washington Post, 24 October 1995.

35. Joshua Muravchik, “Beyond Self-Defense”, Commentary, December 1993, p. 23.

36. Robert Kagan, “The Case for Global Activism”, Commentary, September 1994, pp. 40–43.

37. Joshua Muravchik, “Beyond Self-Defense”, Commentary, December 1993, pp. 23–24.

38. Joshua Muravchik, “Can the Neocons Get Their Groove Back?” The Washington Post, November 19, 2006

39. Joshua Muravchik, “Beyond Self-Defense”, Commentary, December 1993, p. 23.

40. CSPAN Video Library, 1993. “Conflict in Yugoslavia”, American Enterprise Institute, May 4. Accessed November 29, 2012 http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ConflictinFormerYugoslavia37

41. Charles Krauthammer, “Bosnia and the Escalating War of Analogies”, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 1993.

42. Charles Krauthammer, “The Doves Are Right About Bosnia”, Time, 8 February 1993.

43. Ibid.

44. Charles Krauthammer, “How the Doves Became Hawks”, Time, 17 May 1993.

45. Charles Krauthammer, “Bob Dole's Bosnia Folly”, Time, 12 December 1994.

46. Charles Krauthammer, “Nothing Succeeds Like Failure”, Time, 20 November 1995.

47. Francis Fukuyama, “Against the New Pessimism”, Commentary, February 1994, pp. 25–29.

48. Paul Wolfowitz, and Douglas Feith, “The argument Clinton isn't making on Bosnia”, The Wall Street Journal, 28 November 1995.

49. “Norman Podhoretz, Why We Are in Bosnia”, The Weekly Standard, 11 December 1995.

50. Ibid.

51. Robert Kagan, “America, Bosnia, Europe”, The Weekly Standard, 6 November 1995.

52. Email interview with Richard Perle, 28 February 2014.

53. Email interview with Richard Perle, 28 February 2014. Perle's role at Dayton is also noted in Alan Weisman, Prince of Darkness Richard Perle: The Kingdom, The Power & the End of Empire in America. New York and London: Union Square Press, 2007, p. 130.

54. Elaine Sciolino, “At the Talks, Raging Bull Meets Bulldog, Cordially”, New York Times, 18 November 1995.

55. Michael Dobbs, “A Peace of the Action”, The Washington Post, 17 November 1995.

56. Interview with Selmo Cikotić, Sarajevo, 15 February 2014.

57. Richard Holbrooke, To End a War. New York: The Modern Library, 1998, pp. 253–254.

58. Ibid., p. 258.

59. Ibid., pp. 270–271.

60. Carl Bildt, Misija mir translated from Swedish to Bosnian by Amna Ibrišagić, Zid, Sarajevo, 1998, p. 205.

61. Interview with Selmo Cikotić, Sarajevo, 15 February 2014.