Beijing reacted by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution to continue the presence of UN forces. The UN troops left, and were immediately replaced by NATO soldiers who used the country as a base for peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo. Once the air war began, many ethnic Macedonians, who have close family and other ties with Serbia, felt powerless and abused. Adding economic insult to political injury, the NATO powers wrecked the economy by imposing a trade embargo on Serbia, Macedonia s principal trading partner. Though the US and the European Union promised massive amounts of compensating aid, little has yet been provided.
Resentment runs high, but there is little Macedonia can do about it.
We at the Search for Common Ground specialize in conflict prevention and resolution. Although the tools of conflict prevention can be applied unilaterally by NGOs, international organizations, and governments, our experience shows that prevention is most effective when all work in concert. Some mechanisms for conflict prevention for example, those that include benign involvement in a country s internal affairs or result in back-channel talks are often best left to NGOs. At the same time, only governments can make peace. We are also convinced that applying several tools at the same time increases their overall effectiveness.