Informatiemakelaar en schietschijf: de inzet en effectiviteit van waarnemers in vredesoperaties op de Balkan, 1991-1995

Landstra, D. (2022)

Doctoral Thesis

This historical study deals with the deployment and the effectiveness of observers in the former Yugoslavia. The intervention started small, but the number of observers from the European Community Monitoring Mission (ECMM) and particularly the number of United Nations Military Observers (UNMOs) grew substantially during the war. The variety of their tasks and the growing number of observers seem to indicate that they played an important role. However, there was initially little clarity about how they were deployed, how this deployment evolved and how effective the observers really were. In this study, effectiveness is a key concept, which involves not only taking a closer look at the results achieved by this category of military personnel, but also comparing those results with the investments their efforts required. This makes it possible to analyse and weigh the 'costs' and 'benefits' of their deployment. Based on the results achieved by observers in the former Yugoslavia and the investment this required, conclusions can be drawn about their effectiveness. In short, the observer operations on the Balkans could be described as complex, multi-faceted and high-risk. How justifiable was it to deploy observers in a conflict at the high end of the spectrum of force?

• Military
• Observers
• Yugoslavia
• Balkan
• ECMM
• UNMO
• UNPROFOR
• Effectiveness
• Peace operations
• United Nations

• All authors: Landstra, D.
• Supervisor: Schoenmaker, B.
• Co-supervisor: Brocades Zaalberg, T.W.
• Committee: Scott-Smith, G.P.; Graaff, B.G.J. de; O'Malley, A.M.; Baudet, F.H.; Dissel, A.M.C. van
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Institute for History, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2022-09-28
• Publisher: Amsterdam: Boom
• ISBN (print): 9789024449477