Washington Memo - Conflict Resurfaces With Lessons on Nation-Building - NYTimes.com: "Before Afghanistan and Iraq, there was Kosovo, the preoccupation of Washington a decade ago but largely off the radar screen in recent times. Eleven years after NATO drove out Serbian forces and two years after Kosovo declared independence, the young nation is struggling to consolidate its position on the map and looking for American help.
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci came to town for perhaps Kosovo’s most important week since assuming statehood. On Wednesday, he met with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and accepted an international loan package. But most important, he wanted to be in Washington on Thursday when the International Court of Justice ruled on whether the 2008 declaration of independence was valid, a decision fraught with divisive potential in Europe.
Kosovo, of course, is no Iraq or Afghanistan for all sorts of reasons. But the continuing tension in the Balkans serves as a reminder of just how challenging and long-lasting the American enterprise of nation-building really is. Even after the fighting is long over — and there are still about 1,480 American troops in Kosovo as part of a 9,900-member international force — the project is not really done. "
