Part of the problem is that multiethnicity in Kosovo has never had the same character as it did in Bosnia. This was why many intellectuals in the West and in Sarajevo considered that conflict's outcome as a defining moment for post-Cold War Europe. The conflict in Kosovo has never been seen in the same terms, mostly because Serbs and Albanians never intermarried, the region was 90 percent Albanian, and the Serbian presence in cities like Pristina was identified with a colonial system. Because of this, the protectorate needs to help create the peaceful law-based environment necessary for the coexistence of Albanians and Serbs. In the long run, economic reconstruction and an eventual transition to democ-racy may create the preconditions for authentic pluralism.
Protectorates are about buying time.
In the best scenario, this will require decades of an interna-tional military presence. Unfortunately, the question of Kosovo's final status will not wait for decades. In fact, it is on the table today. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 1999, which affirms that Kosovo remains part of Yugoslavia, is striking in its total disconnect from reality. After the way the rump Yugoslav state has treated them for the last decade, including expelling half of them by force, Kosovar Albanians will neither agree to be citizens of Yugoslavia nor ask for passports from a state that just last year was systematically destroying their identity papers.