Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

The filming took place in an area controlled by Serb paramilitary groups in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Newly dug trenches can be seen next to these corpse-filled trenches, and there are traces of bulldozers next to some of the filled-in trenches. Clearly, the number of deaths in the massacre was far greater than what the satellite showed.

"Distinguished delegates, this is a satellite image of Bosnia and Herzegovina three days ago. At this very moment, an unimaginable humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Yugoslavia, and we must stop it!"

Director Nian's proposal is already on the table.

"The Soviet delegation draws the attention of the Security Council to the fact that the violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina has now gone beyond the scope of an internal affair. Armed forces are purging each other along ethnic borders, and refugees are pouring into Hungary and across the Drina River into Serbia. The Yugoslavian catastrophe is spreading throughout Europe."

"Therefore, the Soviet delegation formally submits the following draft resolution—"

"First, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is deemed a threat to international peace and security. This determination is based on Article 39 of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations."

Article 39 stipulates that the Security Council shall determine whether any threat to peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression exists, and shall make recommendations or decisions on what measures should be taken to maintain or restore international peace and security.

This clause serves as the opening to the entire Chapter VII. The Security Council must first determine, based on Article 39, that "a threat to the peace exists" before it has the authority to invoke Articles 41 and 42.

Articles 41 and 42 follow the principle of "courtesy before force." The former refers to non-military coercive measures, stipulating that the Security Council may decide to use means other than force to implement its resolutions and may urge member states to implement such means. Measures may include partial or complete suspension of economic relations and rail, sea, air, postal and telecommunications services and other means of transport, as well as the severance of diplomatic relations.

The translated terms are sanctions, arms embargoes, trade blockades, asset freezes, flight and mail suspensions, recalling ambassadors... all coercive measures without resorting to force are included under this clause.

Article 41 is a prerequisite for Article 42. In theory, the Security Council should first try sanctions, and only escalate to force if sanctions are deemed insufficient.

Before the first arbitration conference in Yugoslavia began, the United Nations had already invoked Article 41 against Yugoslavia, but it clearly failed to stop the war.

"Secondly," the director continued, "it has been decided to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mission of this force is not limited to monitoring the ceasefire."

"This unit is authorized to take all necessary measures to protect civilians from massacre, safeguard humanitarian passages, and safeguard heavy equipment transferred from the former Yugoslav People's Army to international supervision. This authorization is based on Article 42 of Chapter VII of the Charter."

Article 42, Measures of Force, stipulates that the Security Council may, if it considers the measures provided for in Article 41 to be insufficient or proven to be insufficient, take necessary air, sea, and land actions to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such actions may include air, sea, and land demonstrations, blockades, and other military actions by Member States of the United Nations.

The Soviet Union hoped to pass Article 42, the only article in the UN that legally authorizes war. "Necessary air, sea, and land operations"—armed intervention, blockade, and even full-scale military action—all fall under this article. "Authorization to take all necessary measures to protect civilians"—this so-called "all necessary measures" is the standard rhetoric used by the Security Council when invoking Article 42.

The United States used this wording in UN Resolution 678, which was put forward during the Gulf War a few months ago.

However, the Soviet Union rejected the US proposal because its key point was that the definition of threat was extremely broad; the US simply wanted to use this pretext to overthrow Iraq.

The charter does not clearly define what constitutes a threat to peace, and the power of interpretation rests almost entirely with the Security Council!

On another timeline, its definition has been broadened since the Cold War—civil wars, humanitarian disasters, mass refugee outflows, and even terrorism and overthrown governments have all been identified by the Security Council as “threats to peace.”

Yes, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a civil war within Yugoslavia, which should be considered an internal affair. However, as long as the Security Council recognizes it as a threat to peace, it crosses the threshold of internal affairs, and the United Nations can legitimately enter the UN.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Article 42 has never actually been fully implemented in its original form.

Roosevelt died too soon. According to Roosevelt's vision, the Charter originally intended for the Security Council to have its own UN army (Articles 43 to 47 stipulated that countries should sign agreements with the Security Council, be on standby, and have a military staff to command it).

But Truman usurped Roosevelt's legacy and led the world in a different direction. On March 5, 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech ushered in the Cold War, and the UN forces failed, with none of those agreements being signed.

In subsequent practice, the Security Council authorized member states or multinational forces to exercise force on its behalf, which was carried out by the United States, NATO, or a multinational coalition.

The Gulf War and later Libya followed this model: the United Nations provided authorization, and member states provided troops.

The Security Council chamber was silent; many were shocked.

Because traditional UN peacekeeping forces are based on Chapter VI, this old approach has been used since the 1956 Suez Crisis:

"Peacekeeping forces can only be deployed with the consent of all parties to the conflict, can only fire in self-defense, and must remain neutral."

The Soviet Union is now going to break through it.

The leader stated: "...the previous reorganization of the Yugoslav People's Army under the UN framework failed to fulfill its function of 'maintaining peace and stability and reducing the intensity of conflict'."

During the chaos of the reorganization, a large amount of military equipment fell into the hands of local armed groups. Traditional peacekeeping models have proven ineffective in Bosnia and Herzegovina; peacekeeping forces have neither protected civilians nor prevented their own soldiers from suffering unnecessary casualties.

She waved those satellite photos:

"The United Nations must play the true role it was in the beginning! Chapter VII has never been quoted in this way since the birth of the United Nations, and the Soviet Union is willing to set a precedent."

The American representative stood up and objected: "The Soviet proposal sounds humanitarian, but what is its true nature?"

"Once the peacekeeping force receives the authorization in Chapter 7 and is allowed to use force to protect civilians, it must choose sides. How should the peacekeeping force determine which side will retaliate and which side will fire first? In such a situation, who should be the target of the use of force?"

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a place where three ethnic groups are killing each other, protecting Bosnian civilians means firing at Serb militants, while protecting the Serbs from being massacred by Bosnian militants means firing at Bosniaks.

Is this force still a neutral peacekeeping force? Or will it become an intervention force led by the Soviet Union and operating under the banner of the United Nations?

He paused for a moment.

"Our question is simple—is this force here to separate the two sides, or to stop the massacre?"

These two goals were objectively impossible to achieve simultaneously in Bosnia and Herzegovina at this point. This was because the massacres were being systematically carried out by all parties involved—not just the Serbs, but also the Bosniaks and Croats.

Whom do we protect? Whom do we fight? And how do we define who the perpetrators and who the victims are—on a battlefield where everyone who picks up a gun is an armed militant and who lays down a civilian, and everyone is killing each other?

This argument hits the nail on the head.

The fundamental problem with Chapter Seven's authorization is that once you are allowed to use force voluntarily, you are no longer the referee; you become a player.

In a three-way conflict like Bosnia and Herzegovina, a player carrying a gun would be accused of favoritism by one of the other two sides, no matter who he shoots.

"We believe the Soviet Union overused the Charter," the U.S. representative said. "Peacekeeping forces should not be involved in the multi-party conflict of the Yugoslav Wars. They should stay on the buffer line and do what they are supposed to do. As for preventing massacres—that is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict. The United Nations should be responsible for coordination, not repression."

Director Nian retorted, "Isolation? What are these photos of? Are the people in these trenches being 'isolated' for protection? If we're talking about isolation, then our previous reorganization of the Yugoslav People's Army already accomplished our mission, but the facts prove that isolation was a complete failure."

"The logic of traditional peacekeeping is that I stand on this line, and people on this side are not allowed to come over, and people on that side are not allowed to go over. But when the perpetrators and the perpetrators live in the same village, where do we draw our line?"

When a civilian, having laid down their arms, crossed the cordon at night, killed residents of the village opposite, and then retreated before dawn—our troops just watched it all happen and did nothing because they were only authorized to 'defend in self-defense'?

“Isolation is tantamount to condoning this massacre.”

The Security Council fell silent again, followed by more debate, with neither side able to convince the other—especially given the United States’ clear opposition.

A few hours later, the results of the first vote were in—

United States: Oppose.

United Kingdom: Abstain.

China: Abstain.

France: Support.

The Soviet proposal was thus rejected. A resolution cannot pass if even one of the five permanent members of the Security Council votes against it.

The leader stood in the Security Council hall, watching the vote. Her expression remained unchanged; she had long anticipated this outcome—the United States would not easily grant the Soviet Union a groundbreaking authorization.

She closed the folder: "Meeting over."

The meeting was far from over.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The next day, November 8, the Soviet Union launched its operation.

Since the United Nations wouldn't go with him, he went to the Warsaw Pact!

Slava addressed the Warsaw Pact: “Comrades, the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution on intervention in Yugoslavia. Chapter VII of the Peace Charter was not activated, which means that we are currently unable to take effective action to stop the massacres in Bosnia and Herzegovina within the framework of the United Nations.”

He looked at the representatives of the Warsaw Pact countries present.

"But the massacre will not stop because of the UN's veto. Yugoslavia is our neighbor, and it was once a member of the socialist family. Its people are bleeding right now, and we cannot stand by and watch this tragedy happen."

"I call on all Warsaw Pact member states to support Yugoslavia. The New People's Army of Yugoslavia, as the last legacy of this former socialist federation, has reached a cooperation agreement with us. The New People's Army hopes that countries around the world will help Yugoslavia."

We must help our socialist brothers maintain domestic stability and peace, safeguard communist ideology, eliminate the capitalist economic system, and bring Yugoslavia back into the embrace of the socialist family!

The Warsaw Pact member states reacted quickly. They wouldn't have cared about the lives of the Yugoslav people if the Soviet Union hadn't brought it up—but they knew that their Soviet big brother wouldn't convene the Warsaw Pact member states without a reason.

Yes, Yugoslavia did have a very strained relationship with the Soviet Union, but times have changed. When the big brother doesn't speak up, the little brothers follow the old ways. Now the big brother has spoken.

Although Slava said "support for Yugoslavia," considering that the Soviet Union's resolution to use force was rejected in the Security Council a few days earlier, it may have meant more than just support.

Soviet Union: Everyone, please support Yugoslavia.

Warsaw Pact: We understand.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

November 12, Hungary-Yugoslavia border.

Soviet armored forces, including T-72 and T-80 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and self-propelled artillery, were moving from the Soviet Union toward Hungary.

After Hungary was ravaged by Soviet tanks in 1956, the Soviet army once again deployed a large number of troops there. However, the Soviet army did not completely withdraw from Hungary after 1956. In 1957, the Soviet-backed Kádár government formally recognized the legality of the long-term Soviet military presence in Hungary through legislation. This force, known as the "Southern Army Group," was one of the Soviet Union's important military forces in Eastern Europe.

It has more than 65000 personnel and several elite tank and motorized infantry divisions under its command, equipped with fighter jets and helicopters.

But Slava did not move this force, which gave the Warsaw Pact member states some food for thought:

If the Big Brother really intended to launch a massive invasion of Yugoslavia, why go to the trouble of diverting troops from within the country? The number of US troops deployed in Europe has been decreasing in recent years, with a focus on West Germany, which has not been able to provide sufficient deterrence against the Soviet Union.

There is only one answer: Ivanov is using this action to put pressure on the United States.

Now that the objective of the operation was clear, the Warsaw Pact member states sent more troops. Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia... even Romania, which sent the least, dispatched two divisions to Hungary. At this point, the Warsaw Pact group had deployed 14 troops in Hungary.

Meanwhile, signs of Warsaw Pact troop movements have also emerged along the borders of Bulgaria and Romania, which border Serbia.

Slava's stance was clear: since the UN Security Council refused to authorize the intervention of peacekeeping forces, the New People's Army of Yugoslavia would "voluntarily request" the Warsaw Pact to intervene in the Yugoslav civil war.

At that point, it would no longer be a multinational peacekeeping operation under the UN framework, but a unilateral action by the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

All the corpses still slain in Yugoslavia during the civil war will be met with the iron fist of Big Brother's communism. Forget about social democracy, capitalist road, democracy, or multi-party parliamentary systems; let them criticize Big Brother's weapons. Comrade Stalin's will will be realized in 1991, and the Balkans will become the exclusive sphere of influence of the Soviet Union!

At this time, Yugoslavia was the most suitable country to be invaded because the only country capable of defending the Soviet Union, the People's Army, had been weakened after reorganization, and its leader had already cooperated closely with the Soviet Union. The armies of countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia had just been formed, and their "defense forces" of just over five figures were put together by temporarily reorganizing the military and police and absorbing their own ethnic armed forces. Their equipment was uneven.

The strongest Serbian regular army has only about 3 men, and it is severely lacking in heavy equipment—most of the heavy equipment of the New People's Army when it was reorganized is in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Pentagon believed that if the Soviet Union announced armed intervention in the Yugoslav civil war, these Yugoslavian corpses, who didn't even have many regular troops, would probably not last more than half a month before the blue flag fell and the red flag was raised in the face of the Warsaw Pact's steel torrent.

This is the last thing the United States wants to see.

------

The Security Council convened again on November 14.

This peacekeeping force proposal was initiated by the UK, and its content is very similar to that of the Soviet Union a few days earlier, but the wording has been adjusted so that countries around the world would not believe that it is a copy of the Soviet draft.

It also references Chapter VII, but adds several limiting clauses: the use of force by peacekeeping forces is limited to "protecting civilians, preventing mass violence, and ensuring humanitarian corridors," rather than a broad mandate for "forced peace." The command structure is a multinational joint command, not a Soviet-led one.

The United States had just rejected the Soviet Union's proposal a few days ago, but the Warsaw Pact backed down as soon as it gathered at the border and wanted to renegotiate. This damages the image of the United States in the eyes of its people and in the world.

Therefore, it was Britain, representing the conjugate father-son pair, that put forward the proposal.

The voting results came out quickly—the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France expressed their support, while China abstained.

This marks the first time since its inception that the UN Security Council has successfully invoked Chapter VII to authorize peacekeeping forces to intervene in a civil war.

This precedent will be cited repeatedly in the decades to come.

On November 15, the UN Security Council announced:

"The UN peacekeeping force will be deployed to the conflict zone in Yugoslavia to prevent humanitarian tragedies, maintain peace, protect civilians, and stop and mediate conflicts between different ethnic groups and countries."

After the news was released, the New People's Army of Yugoslavia responded within hours.

Kadijevich issued a statement: "The New People's Army welcomes the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces and is willing to accept UN mediation."

On the same day, Croatia also issued a statement supporting the UN resolution.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

November 14, Hungary-Yugoslavia border.

As it was getting dark, Seryozha thought there would be a battle the next day.

His name is Sergei Kovalenko, 24 years old, and he is an infantryman. His family lives in a sunflower-growing village outside Odessa. A week ago, his division was urgently transferred from its base to Hungary and stopped in a fallow field less than 20 kilometers from the Yugoslav border, where they pitched their tents for a week.

For the first few days, everyone was laughing and joking, saying they were on vacation in Hungary, that the wine in Tokaj was good, and that the Southern Army Group was providing logistical support.

Two days ago, nobody talked about traveling anymore.

Helicopters, self-propelled artillery, and armored vehicles were continuously transported here. In addition to Slavs, there were also Poles and Germans stationed nearby—other Warsaw Pact countries also sent people here.

The night before last, everyone was a little panicked because live ammunition was fired. Every day, the comrades in the battalion who went to the division headquarters to pick up logistical supplies would be surrounded by people when they came back. Everyone wanted to hear the news from the south—how many people had come to such and such a village and such a river.

On the evening of the 13th, the platoon leader gathered everyone together and said that there were new orders from above, but he didn't know what they were. He told everyone to pack their gear and be ready to be deployed at any time.

This statement is essentially meaningless; everyone has been on standby for a week now.

No one could sleep in the tent that night. The old soldier in the bunk opposite Seryozha—everyone called him "Beard" because he couldn't shave properly—cleaned his rifle over and over again, until the barrel was so clean you could see your reflection in it.

"You mean," the bearded man suddenly whispered, "we're going to break in?"

No one responded.

“I’m telling you guys, don’t tell the political commissar,” the bearded man put down his gun. “My cousin did the same thing in Afghanistan. He stopped at the border for almost half a month, saying every day that there would be no fighting. Then one night, an order came and the tanks went over.”

My cousin went there and never came back. Isn't that ridiculous? My cousin was killed in 84, and not long after, Ivanov withdrew his troops.

Someone rolled over in the corner of the tent: "Stop fucking talking about this."