The Lessons of Kosovo

Martin Sletzinger is Director of the East European Studies Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

NATO action in Kosovo was unprecedented. So it is unsurprising that the peace keeping that followed the bombing is also a new experience for the combined forces that now police the tense territory. What is at stake is ultimately the hope that a new, more tolerant society can emerge. This is, in effect, nation building and it will oblige Serbs and ethnic Albanians to relate in more civil and positive ways. Is this an appropriate goal for the U.S.? Martin Sletzinger argues that it is not.