“…a superlative document—an incisive analysis of the rise of nationalism and its contribution to the death of Yugoslavia and to the wars that followed, an unflattering account of the West’s failure to end the Bosnian war, a set of sensible recommendations for each country in the region, and imaginative proposals for the Balkans as a whole. Unfinished Peace, remarkably well written for a product of group-think, has a moral force which lifts its prescriptions far above the level of the normal policy institute paperback…. Unfinished Peace deserves to be read not just by Balkan experts, but by anyone concerned about the human condition and the human character under stress.”— The New York Review of Books Drawing on its extensive, high-level, and politically comprehensive discussions throughout the region, the Commission investigates the causes of the recent Balkan conflicts and provides an independent assessment of the European, American, and UN responses. It calls for a wide range of stabilizing measures—including proposals for the treatment of minorities, the promotion of democracy, and Balkan cooperation. To be effective, the Commission warns, such efforts must be reinforced by NATO’s continuing and coherent military engagement.
The Commission was established in 1995 by the Aspen Institute Berlin and the Carnegie Endowment to provide an independent perspective on the region’s continuing problems and to propose a concerted Western approach to long-term stability. The eminent leaders who served on the Commission were Leo Tindemans (Chairman), Lloyd Cutler, Bronislaw Geremek, John Roper, Theo Sommer, Simone Veil, and David Anderson (ex officio). Jacques Rupnik headed the Commission staff.