Second, although Great Powers are de facto unbound by international rules on the use of force, they abide by a sort of unwritten “agreement between scoundrels” to behave similarly. The West violated that agreement in 1999 in Kosovo: NATO powers first attacked Kosovo and Belgrade, in breach of the UN Charter (although they were morally justified to do so, because there was a need to stop the serious atrocities underway); the West then promoted and blessed Kosovo’s secession.