Retired General Wesley Clark agreed to be interviewed to discuss his role coming to the aid of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo during the 1990s.  His decisive leadership resulted in a NATO bombing campaign in support ot the ethnic Albanian people who were being brutally treated at the hands of the Serbs, led by the intransigent Slobodan Milosevic.  Clark's insightful historical analysis, his candor, sharp memory, and rememberances shared in this interview are particularly important to the people of Kosovo, who are still being repressed and pressured by external forces, mostly under Serbian influence with the support of Russia. After more than a million fled because of deportation and self-preservation, an additional 400,000 ethnic Albanians were forced to flee their residences and live in grisly mountainous conditions at the peak of the brutal tactics imposed by the Serbs.

As NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Clark's critical role came to a head when he pressed forward after the Serbs re-imposed unwanton killing in late March, 1998.  Despite explicit warnings, the Serbs gambled that NATO would not intervene in the Balkans.  They were wrong.  With the key influence and support of then Sercretary of State Madeline Albright, and the leadership of then President Bill Clinton, General Clark rescued the Albanians from the terror by initiating a bombing campaign that lasted some 78 days.  Notable for its success, this military effort also raised a curious issue, which was that this bombing campaign moved forward without an explicit U.N. resolution.  Clark's comments about the history leading up to his historic support for the Albanian people are memorable.

General Clark also gives insightful comments on many of the key players from that era, including Richard Holbrooke, Tony Blair, and Milosevic himself.  He modestly accepts the fact that he, the late Mrs. Albright, and Bill Clinton are revered figures in Kosovo. His own personal recollection of receiving a letter from a relative of someone killed in the bombing is poignant.

The interview wraps up with General Clark taking a look at Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine. 

• Why do you think Kosovars are still so heavily restricted?
• How was it possible that NATO so strongly supported a non-NATO region that was not even a self-declared country? Why, therefore, doesn't NATO intervene in Ukraine?
• Why was Slobodon Milosevic so brutal in his treatment of ethnic Albanians?
• What influence does Serbia have today in the everyday life of average Kosovars?
• What is the physical composition of Kosovo?  Why is it strategically and politically important?
• Do all EU nations recognize Kosovo's existence?  If not, why not?
• Why does the Kosovar passport only extend to 54 countries, and why are visa requirements so much more strict for this country versus other Balkan nations?
• What was the importance of the war in Bosnia, which started before the Kosovo conflict? 
• What did removing the influence of communism do to the Balkans?
• How did the absence of Tito contribute to the Serbia-Kosovo conflict?