Abstract
Last September, Serbia officially asked the UN for authorization to use the IJC (International Justice Court) as a judge, in order to know if the Kosovo Declaration of Independence was legal. So far, 50 of the 192 member-countries of the UN have recognized Kosovo as an independent State. In order to be fully independent, it needs a majority of the countries to recognize it. Thus, as illustrated by this recent example, the UN plays a great role in the status of Kosovo. Since 1999, the UNMIK (United Nations Mission Interim in Kosovo) runs the territory of Kosovo under the UN Security council resolution 1244. If this resolution has provided an 'interim administration' for Kosovo, the UN failed in re-building the country in 10 years, and to respond to the issue of independence. So far, the UN has failed in achieving its goals in Kosovo, and this essay will try to explain how and why. It will first study the situation in Kosovo since 1999 and explain when the UN did wrong, and finally shed light on the lessons learned from Kosovo by the UN.
