Coopting liberal peace-building: Untying the gordian knot in Kosovo

The liberal peace framework aims to regulate, govern and empower the individual in a democratic and pluralist milieu. Yet liberal peace-building, even on the scale and depth employed in the international governance of Kosovo, is susceptible to local cooption, particularly where one group can adopt the language of the liberal peace and has strong support and credibility from the international community. This has led to a focus on achieving statehood for Kosovan Albanians, the marginalization of other identity groups and their agendas, and consequently the undermining of the pluralist goals of peace-building with the implicit cooperation of liberal peace-builders. Given Serb opposition to statehood for Kosovo, there is a danger that liberal peace-building will encourage the partition of Kosovo rather than create a pluralist polity. The article illustrates the susceptibility of liberal peace-building to local cooption.