Abstract: Covers the origins of the Kosovo crisis and violations of international human rights standards, with special focus on the period from the abrogation of Kosovo's autonomous status in 1989 to February 1998. The chapter covers post-World War II history of Serbian policy in Kosovo, Slobodan Milosevic's rise to power in the late 1980s, Albanian resistance under the League for a Democratic Kosovo (LDK), the establishment of a parallel system of Albanian underground self-governance and the rise of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In discussing the breakout of violence in 1998–99, the chapterpoints to failures of “early warning” lessons and the missed opportunities by the international community to prevent the conflict.

Keywords: autonomy, governance, KLA, Kosovo, LDK, nationalism, Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic,