There are a few things I like to talk about when we drink.  Like everyone, I like to gossip about the people we know.  I like to talk about that attractive woman at the other table.  The other thing I like to talk about is art.

But I think we misunderstood each other a bit, because we ended up talking about entertainment, not art.  Maybe it’s my fault—I sometimes get the two confused myself.  Actually, in hindsight I think we were having two arguments at the same time.  This happens a lot to me in Kosovo.

Lazy journalists, couch geopolitical strategists, and Cold War nostalgists have all been convinced that South Ossetia is like Kosovo. They are all convinced that the similarities are there; the only detail to square off remains which of one of the many combination of similarities has taken place in this case. But if there is any similarity - because connection there is none - between the two conflicts, Kosovo is like Georgia, not S. Ossetia.

This past weekend’s visit by Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi to the United States was described by Thaçi as a “historic visit and meeting, since it is the first delegation from Independent Kosova (Kosovo) to visit Washington”.

There are a number of ways in which one can be less successful than the other. Starting from individual quests for power and influence on others, the ultimate aim (when it comes to state policies) is to show that you are able to speak up, make your strategies known, even when sometimes you lack the proper tools.