A Summers Day in 1999: The Second Cold War

The Second Cold War 1999-Present


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Clockwise from top right: US President Barack Obama during a 2011 Summit regarding East-West co-operation over the Arab Spring; The September 11th 2001 Terroist Attacks were seen as a brief respite in tensions between Russia and Nato; A RAF Tornado GR4's takes off from RAF Akrotiri Cyprus in July 1999 on the first ever armed conflict between NATO and Russian troops during the Pristina Airport Crisis.

The Second Cold War is an era of ongoing heightened military tension between the NATO military alliance and the Russian Federation, following the 1999 NATO-Russia Conflict. While historians agree the cause of the Second Cold War was the NATO attempt to secure Pristina International Airport against the Russian military in the aftermath of the 1999 Kosovo War, many have now coined the term "Warm War" to describe a cold war but infrequent military clashes between main power blocs-as seen in 1999, the 2004 Baltic Standoff and the 2013-2015 NATO-Russia Crises.

The Second Cold War has been described as being far more dangerous than the first Cold War; owing to the dilapidation of the Russian military and its subsequent reliance on nuclear weapons in front-line attack, the general resentment of Russia for losing the last Cold War and a more aggressive US Foreign Policy following the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks-which has led some political scientists to question whether peace between Russia and the West is possible in principle.

The Second Cold War has, like the First Cold War, left a scignificant mark on popular culture from the late 1990s into the 2010s. Coupled with the fear of Islamic terrorism in the 2000s after 9/11, the 2000s are looked at as the tensest decade since the end of the Second World War, and many forms of media such as music, film and television were greatly impacted by the ongoing international situation.

 
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Second Cold War 1999-2003 Phase

The 1999-2003 phase is the first period of the Second Cold War between NATO and the Russian Federation, starting during the Pristina International Airport Event and the subsequent 1999 NATO-Russia confrontation. Although the first phase of the Second Cold War, it was at the time, one of the closest times to world came to total nuclear war.

Pristina International Airport Event

Saturday 12th June 1999


A contingent of British troops, lead by the singer Captain James Blunt arrived at Pristina International Airport which had been barricaded by Russian soldiers and increasingly fortified by Serbian troops. Blunt’s team was repeatedly given orders by General Wesley Clark to take the airport by force from the Russians, but pre-determining that Blunt and his team wonuld not use force against the Russians, continuously asked for clarification in the hope that new, more rational orders would come through. The General on the British side- Michael Jackson, had been replaced the lost moment before the operation in Kosovo began with an older, and less becoming General who like Clark, had a lingering distrust of the Russians from the Cold War. According to the future "Prescott Inquiry" led by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, it would reveal the British General "seemed to be intimidated by Clark".

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British troops under the command of Captain James Blunt launching an assault on the airport

As the morning progressed, the order to secure the airport this time came through from the British General not Clark, in the hope of bringing the Russians to the table. However, just before midday, KFOR command reported that gunshots had been fired between the Russian and British troops. The exact cause of the fire was unclear, and it was never fully established whether the British or Russian troops fired first. According to Captain Blunt however, it was the Serbians who fired a warning shot that hit one of the men in the British contingent, a claim that the Serbian army denied. Regardless, it was clear that by midday British troops were now under heavy attack by Russian and Serbian Forces.

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A destroyed set of boarding stairs at Pristina International Airport shortly after the US air strike

By Midday, General Clark had ordered an airstrike on Pristina Airport to destroy the terminal which housed the Russian and Serbian men using RAF planes stationed at RAF Akrotiri Cyprus and USAF planes from Aviano AFB in Italy, by this time, both Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Bill Clinton had been made aware that British troops were now in armed confrontation with the Russians. Blunt’s team, which was suffering heavy losses, began to retreat in time for the first air strike on Pristina Airport, which had destroyed much of the passenger terminal in its attack and killed or wounded a high number of Russian servicemen.

In retaliation, Russian Air Force planes had been dispatched from airbases within Western Russia to cover the skies above Kosovo, to ward of any NATO or further NATO personnel into the area. However, upon entering Hungarian airspace, the places were harassed by Romanian and Hungarian jet fighters, who ordered the Russian planes to turn back. A warning shot was fired from a Romanian jet, resulting, however the confrontation quickly escalated into the shooting down on one Russian plane and two Hungarian fighter jets. In retaliation, Russian high command had ordered Serbian military forces to take Albania by force and and to blow up the bridges through the narrow Kacinic defile, trapping Blunt’s team in Kosovo with the impending chaos around them. This was not a hard task for the Serbian army, who had left the region on their own accord with high morale. Under the wing of the Russian army, the Serbian army re-entered Albania equipped with Russian equipment to help keep NATO out of the region.

Civilian Effects

The effect of the conflict was further exacerbated in the public owing to the fact it was a summer weekend, and much of Western Europe were starting to take summer holidays to the Mediterranean, especially Greece. Air traffic through South East Europe had suddenly been closed on the 12th June, causing chaos in cancelled flights at London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airport (disrupting the authors first holiday abroad when he was 4). The severity of the conflict began to hit home immediately. In Britain, the national telecom provider British Telecom had to shut down the network at 9’oclock that morning following a sudden surge in traffic connected with the conflict, and to keep the wires open for official traffic in case the country had to be put on a war footing. In the United States, the population woke up to most major television networks cutting normal programming to bring coverage of the unfolding conflict in Europe.

Western Response

At Midday in Washington, President Bill Clinton gave a President’s Address to the nation. The transcript, which had been written in a hurry as White House staff began to prepare for a sudden evacuation of the President to Camp David, became on of the most defining moments of his Presidency:

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President Bill Clinton addressing the United States on the morning of the 12th June 1999, annoucning the armed confrontation between NATO and Russia.

“My fellow Americans, by now you will have realised the ongoing international situation in Europe, that at 6:00 AM this morning Eastern Time, a contingent of British troops were attacked by Russian and Serbian forces in Kosovo. In retaliation, we the US, to defend our allies have carried out numerous air strikes amongst Russian military personnel inside Kosovo. I can say, that at this time, the United States is involved in a state of direct military confrontation with the Russian Federation, but I want to assure the public, right here and now, that we are working tirelessly, tirelessly-on both sides to diffuse this conflict, and there is good and constructive dialogue flowing between Moscow and Washington. This is not a time for panic, for fear, but a time of strength, unity and resolve. May God continue to bless the United States of America and her brave allies.”

Despite Bill Clinton’s reassuring words, behind the scenes negotiations with Moscow were proving to be dangerously close to failure. Talks with Russian President Boris Yeltsin began immediately on the famous hotline to defuse tensions, however the conversation between the two would only inflame the conflict. According to transcripts, Yeltsin was “near hysterical” and “incomprehendible”, and began to beg Clinton for his help to diffuse the conflict over fears his generals would liquidate him if Russia incurred any further losses.

However, at 21:06 Eastern time, the line suddenly went dead for five minutes. After numerous attempts to reset the line, at 21:11 a Russian general began to speak to Clinton in an “ominously calm voice”, who instructed Yeltsin was safe but all correspondence was to be taken directly to the head of the Russian Chief of Staff. Clinton strongly refused this arrangement, and refused all further communication until Yeltsin had been put on the line. The line was dead for an extra half an hour, and during this time, Clinton put US forces onto DEFCON 2, whith orders to standby to go to DEFCON 1, over fears that Yeltsin had been otherthrown in a military coup and the situation would inevitably escalate towards a limited nuclear strike on the United States.

Sunday 13th September 1999

Meanwhile at 02:11 GMT 10 Downing Street was empty, leaving only a few house staff. Tony Blair had taken his panel down to the PINDAR crisis command centre over 100 ft below Whitehall, where he was in communication with Washington. Clinton and Blair decided that if Yeltsin had not come on the line within 30 minutes, then war would be declared against Russia. Allegedly, Clinton wanted to give as little as two or three minuites, but Blair managed to convince him to give ten. In preparation for war, the Royal Navy was put on high alert, and began leaving dock in Portsmouth headed for the protection of the North Sea oilfields from Russian naval ships to protect UK energy lines to fuel a possible war effort. Whilethe US had begun to ready nuclear armed bombers in Europe for an attack on military sites in Western Russia. Blair and Clinton knew that for Russia to have any chance in not being completely defeated in war with NATO, it would need to use nuclear weapons within a 24-48-hour window.

Death of Yeltsin

28 minutes later at 21:38 Eastern Time, the Russian General had returned to the line, declaring that the President had been hospitalised due to a health condition. Clinton refused to believe the General and insisted he had been liquidated by his Generals for begging to help stop the conflict. In a tense meeting with London, Clinton had decided to give Moscow a further four minutes to provide answers before issuing a formal declaration of war on the Russian Federation and retreating to Camp David. However, following a tense standoff, signals intelligence from GCHQ in the United Kingdom had detected an increase in signals traffic from the Kremlin and high activity around Moscow. In particular, telephone calls in Russia intercepted from the US/UK listening station at RAF Menwith Hill in Yorkshire had detected a high amount of traffic concerning Vladimir Putin. At 22:20 Eastern Time, the head of GCHQ had informed the White House that it appeared Putin was immediately replacing Yeltsin in the Kremlin, suggesting that the Russian general was correct and that Yeltsin must have died of some kind of a health condition. However, this did not rule out to Washington that Yeltsin had not been liquidated in a coup of some sort.

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The RAF Menwith Hill site in Yorkshire intercepted telecomunications traffic from Moscow revealing Vladimir Putin had been appointed as Russian PResident after Yeltsin's death.

Tensions were now so high de-escalation seemed too difficult, so it came down to Tony Blair, to play as a frantic intermediary before the sun, and many new ones began to rise.
 
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Sunday 13th June 1999-22:00 Eastern Time

Vladmimir Putin's very first act as Russian President was to attempt to avert an impending large scale millitary clash with NATO. Putin knew that Russia's own forces could not take such a confrontation, still a hollowed out shell of its Soviet era dominance. At 10 o'clock that evening, Putin and Clinton had finally made contact with each other. Much to Clinton's relief, the Russian Navy had not actually left dock, which reduced the chances of an immediate clash with Russia. However the chances of returning to relative peace and normality still seemed relatively remote. The White House suspected Putin was playing for time, and that the new President was not sure of how to play out the situation, not wanting to look weak in front of his generals. Moreover, International news networks had broadcasted anti-Western demonstarations in Moscow over the destructing of the Russian occupied Pristina International Airport. At 22:30 Eastern Time, 04:30 in Moscow, Putin notified Clinton that he would be convening with his Chief of Staff and highest heads of millitary to assess the situation but assured Clinton he would reconvene in thirty minuites. Clinton knew that this was his first few hours as President and did not want to seem to be playing hardball at such a critical time.


Putin knew exactly what he was doing, however and had a clear grasp of the historical geopolitical situation. Putin was ex-KGB and lamented the weaking of Russian power after the fall of the Soviet Union. NATO was admitting more and more of ex-Warsaw Pact nations and was quickly eating away at Russian influence in Europe. At 22:51 Eastern Time, Putin continued talks with Clinton demanding NATO withdraw from Kosovo and allow Russia to arbitrate for Yugoslavia at a special summit-also allowing the creation of a Russian backed Yugoslav state in Europe. Clinton refused to allow this, however after a night of neogtiations, Clinton agreed to hold a summit with Russia and Yugoslavia to try to bring a diplomatic end to the Kosovo War.
 
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Monday 14th June 1999-Moscow, 10:00am


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Anti Western demonstrations in Moscow were starting to look increasingly hostile in the eyes of the West-Moscow, Sunday 14th June 1999

Putin was finding himself under increasing pressure to exert some level of influence over NATO in Yugoslavia and Europe. Anti-Western demonstrations had been marching on Moscow all weekend, and seemed to defy work schedules to continue the march on Monday. Moscow Police forces estimated around 10,000 people had started the demonstrations on the Saturday, and about an extra 1000 people arrived each day.

International newspapers were reporting the demonstrations with a very weary eye. The Guardian theorised the ongoing military tensions with NATO had awakened a sleeping dissent in the Russian people after the fall of the Soviet Union. At around 14:00, the demsonstators massed outside of the Kremlin chanting Putin’s name, but this quickly changed into more sinister shouts of “Stalin! Stalin!”

The West watched with horror as the chasm began to widen between it and Russia. Putin was making his appearance scarce on Russian media as talks with the United States continued on throughout the start of the week.

However, as the week went on and tensions appeared to subside in Kosovo, NATO reported and increase in guerrilla encounters. At a further glance, it appeared that Kosovo was slowly filling up with Russian volunteer fighters working alongside the Serbian army. Even more worrying, these fighters had appeared to all but forgotten the original causes of the war itself, and appeared to be massing an attack solely on NATO forces. London and Washington demanded that Putin close his borders, or add extra security checks to any Russians leaving the country heading to South East Europe, which Putin agreed to do, however it appeared any extra security checks were either lacklustre or not implemented at all. Once more, NATO troops were still missing in the interior of Kosovo, unable to leave the country following the destruction of mountain roads by Serbian and Russian militaries, and NATO feared it was these men that Russian military volunteers may be after.
 
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