Bah, the Balkans were a threat to European peace 100 years ago and they will still be a threat 100 years from now.
No state coincides with a nation there. And if you carve any one up, the new states still won't. There will be a new minorities. And if you would carve the Balkans up all the way into 6000 etnically homogenous little valleys, it would be even more instable than it is now.

An independent Kosovo will be another drama. Serbia can not accept a Kosova-less Serbia, and the Kosovarans will only accept a Serbian-free Kosovo.

I'm no fan of either Serbian or Kosovaran nationalism. Nor of having troops stationed there indefinately. Wherever you station troops there will only decide to which nationalistic hotheads you have just made yourself an accomplice. Bloody quicksand. Nor am I interested in a showdown with czar / secretary-general / president / whatever Putin over a midget mujahedeen statelet.

In my darker moments I wonder if we shouldn't just carve up the Balkans along a few rough etnical lines, and then let each area etnically cleanse itself before we return peacekeepers.
[/bitter cynicism]

Where's Brenus when I need him to help make sense of it all?