HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION AND PEACEKEEPING IN THE FORMER SOVIET-UNIONAND EASTERN-EUROPE

The following analysis looks at attempts to maintain peace and provide humanitarian succour in the cases of the former Soviet Union and Yugo slavia. What is suggested is that the very vagueness of the concepts o f peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention creates serious ambiguiti es which can be exploited-as, it is argued, Russia has been doing-to c over hegemonic ambitions. The article concludes that the international community is not yet ready to face up to its humanitarian responsibil ities in this region and that the adverse experience of Yugoslavia, wh ile highlighting the inadequacies of existing agencies and their likel y inability to determine a long-term outcome to the conflict, has prob ably diminished the chances of interventions in similar circumstances in the foreseeable future, and thus, perversely, actually undermined t he chances of creating effective peacekeeping rules and instruments.