Western governmental responses to the various political crises which erupted in the Balkans after 1989 have been remarkably uniform. There is a widespread feeling among governmental leaders and their policy advisers that western Europe ought to insulate itself from the various inter-state and internal conflicts which have periodically flared up in the region. No core western interests appear to be at stake, whether these are expressed in moral, security, or economic terms. Minimal intervention via the offices of the United Nations came about in Bosnia mainly because public opinion and the independent media were horrified by images of warfare mainly directed at defenceless civilians.