Book Launch - Kosovo: From the End of History to the End of Hope? by Dr Aidan Hehir

The Centre for Global Security Challenges is delighted to host Dr Aidan Hehir for the launch of his new book: 'Kosovo and the Internationals: Hope, Hubris and the End of History.'

Join us on Tuesday 3rd December at 3pm in Social Sciences SR (14.33).

About the talk

Drawing on my recently published book, Kosovo and the Internationals: Hope, Hubris and the End of History, I will argue that Kosovo’s evolution since 1999 starkly illustrates the changing distribution of power at the international level. NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999 was followed by the most ambitious statebuilding mission ever launched. Both reflected the “End of History” thesis then prevalent in the West which promised a future of global peace and prosperity impelled by Western-led intervention and statebuilding. I argue that the goals initially set for Kosovo by Western states were unrealistic, lacked a coherent strategy and reflected the hubris that characterised the West during this period of unipolarity. As a new age of multi-polarity dawned and Western power declined, Kosovo’s Western allies increasingly re-orientated their support away from Kosovo towards Serbia to counter Russia’s influence in the Balkans. Kosovo is thus now in a perilous position; not yet fully recognised as an independent state, facing an increasingly belligerent Serbia, and abandoned by its erstwhile allies. Its contemporary fate illustrates the prevailing global shift from the End of History to the end of hope

Speaker profile

Dr Aidan Hehir is a Reader in International Relations at the University of Westminster. His research interests include transitional justice, humanitarian intervention, and statebuilding in Kosovo. He is the author/editor of twelve books and his work has been published in The European Journal of International Relations, International Security, The Journal of Peace Research, Ethics and International Affairs, and Cooperation and Conflict. He is co-editor of the Routledge Intervention and Statebuilding book series and is a regular contributor to national and international television and radio.