...Serbian security forces expel half the Albanian population from Kosovo during the NATO air campaign. Russia remains in the Contact Group, but the cooperative relationship on the Balkans between Moscow and the West becomes seriously strained. As NATO bombs fall on Serbian forces in Kosovo and Serbia...

...Touch-and-go diplomacy by senior European officials fails to halt the momentum toward a civil war in Macedonia after Albanian insurgents use force to demand increased rights and power for their people. With limited capacity to deal with an insurgency, the Macedonians can have a war or a unified...

...The volatile ethnic Macedonian leaders, who hold the most power in the country, vacillate between military and negotiated solutions. The Macedonian Prime Minister and other extreme nationalists want to destroy the Albanian insurgency even if it means dividing their country. President Trajkovski...

...Pardew and Leotard present a draft settlement to the discomfort of the ethnic Macedonian leaders. When Albanian negotiators demand official status for the use of the Albanian language, the Macedonians turn hostile. As the Macedonian leaders verbally attack Pardew and Leotard in public, riots break...

...Pardew and Leotard agree on an aggressive diplomatic strategy to promote peace. The Macedonians allow Pardew and Leotard to talk only to recognized Albanian political leaders. NATO is left to exclusively engage the NLA. The international envoys look for leverage to influence the negotiating parties...