&gt;<i>Well, but let&#x27;s talk about the collapse of Yugoslavia for a while and the subsequent genocide in Bosnia. Here was something in Western Europe&#x27;s back yard, and they were totally impotent, letting genocide happen right before their eyes.</i><p>There were totally competent to do whatever they wanted. They just didn&#x27;t care AND didn&#x27;t want to step on each others toes, whereas the US didn&#x27;t mind stepping on their collective toes.<p>As for the intervention, the US decision makers and military could not care less about stopping the genocide (in the same way they didn&#x27;t care about &quot;crimes against humanity&quot; elsewhere, or actively helped some in other places when it was convenient, e.g. assisting Suharto, Pinochet, Nicaragua, etc., not to mention their own shit).<p>It was just a convenient excuse to establish Kosovo as another protectorate in Eastern Europe and give a general signal about their reach in the area.