Civil Affairs in Kosovo

This case study traces U.S. Civil Affairs involvement with NATO peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo. U.S. and NATO civil-military leadership and personnel clearly learned lessons from the Persian Gulf and Bosnia, contributing to some successes in Kosovo. Hindrances to the operation included poor NATO civil-military planning, questions about the U.S. commitment, weak funding streams for civil affairs projects, and problems with short-term deployments of U.S. CA personnel. Still, U.S. Civil Affairs officers proved instrumental in improving governance structures and government services such as firefighting and sanitation.