At Long Last, Kosovo

Change your maps:

Kosovo's parliament declared the disputed territory a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an "independent and democratic state" backed by the U.S. and European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.

Serbia immediately denounced the declaration as illegal, and Russia also rejected it, demanding an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

This could end up as a thorny situation, but the people of Kosovo deserve it. This may raise Russia's hackles, but key European countries are going to recognize the vote, and while I'd like to see the United Nations take role in the recognition process, this uneasy peace with Serbia wasn't likely to hold. The balkanizing of the Balkans has often been extremely messy, but this was a formal process taken with the view of both the people and the Parliament.

Finally, it seems to me that this is the best practice of a true democracy, not what we're currently seeing in Iraq. While the world stepped in to stop Kosovo from being bombed out of existence, in the interim they set their minds to a declaration of independence that did not come from an occupying power but the people themselves. Democracy at the barrel of a gun, just like escalation in the face of insurgency, never works. Building democratic societies is about empowering individuals to take action.