Expand All Collapse All Extent 9 folders, approximately 605 pages Summary This collection contains records between Secretary of Defense William Cohen and President Clinton regarding the conflict in Kosovo. This collection dates between January 1998 and December 1999. This collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, executive orders, reports, and administrative paperwork. The records address operations of the Defense Department during the period, including call-up of military units for operations in Kosovo and the Annual Report to the President and Congress. Scope and Content Note The materials in FOIA 2020-0099-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers interested in this case should also see 2006-1186-F and 2016-0205-F. For other related collections researchers should consult the archivist. The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in the former Yugoslavian province of Kosovo that lasted from March of 1998 until June of 1999. The war began in earnest when the Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) attacked Serbian security forces in an effort to enforce their independence. The conflict was a bloody and violent guerilla war fought between the KLA and Yugoslavian police, paramilitary, and uniformed defense forces. It was marked, as was the whole of the 1990’s Balkan wars, by extensive humanitarian suffering and both racial and religious genocide. In October of 1998, the combatants agreed to a short-lived ceasefire which was quickly violated. After high-level peace discussions at the Rambouillet Conference led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) failed in March of 1999, NATO began a bombing campaign against the Yugoslavian forces in an attempt to force them to accept the independence of Kosovo. Serbian forces continued their ethnic cleansing campaign however, and by April of 1999 the United Nations (UN) estimated that nearly 860,000 Kosovars had fled or were forcibly expelled to Albania (444,600), Macedonia (344,500) and Montenegro (69,900). On June 3rd, 1999, Slobodan Milosevic (the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), capitulated to the NATO air campaign. On June 9th, he accepted the proposed peace conditions and on June 11th a UN led Kosovo Force (KFOR) moved in to take over law enforcement duties and to care for the hundreds of thousands of refugees left homeless by the conflict. This collection includes correspondence between Secretary of Defense William Cohen, often called Bill, and the Clinton administration. The selections are limited to the period between January 1998 and December 1999 and related to Kosovo. William Cohen was Secretary of Defense from January 24, 1997, through the end of the administration. Record Type Textual System of Arrangement Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—Clinton Presidential Records: Staff and Office Files and Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management Systems. Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. Access Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions. Copyright Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Researchers are advised to consult the copyright law of the United States (17 U.S.C. Chapter 1) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Provenance Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Processed by Staff Archivist, 2021. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released. Last Modified Date 2021-12-08 Container List The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2020-0099-F: Box 1 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files National Security Council Defense Policy and Arms Control Bouchard, Joseph Secretary of Defense Annual Report [OA/ID 2910] Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System NSC Records Management System [Kosovo and Secretary of Defense Cohen] 9800308 [OA/ID 2010] 9901391 [OA/ID 2714] 9902322 [OA/ID 2720] 9902459 [OA/ID 43320] 9903133 [OA/ID 2725] 9906977 [OA/ID 2750] 9908387 [OA/ID 2760] 9908820 [OA/ID 2763]