Kosovo's birth of independence was a triumphant celebration this week, but the celebrating is bound to dissolve into harsh realities soon.
Kosovo ought to be an independent state. The United States and other Western powers were right to quickly recognize it as a separate nation. Serbia lost all rights to govern Kosovo as a province when Serbia launched a brutal ethnic-cleansing campaign against Kosovo's Albanian majority a decade ago.
But independence will be a rocky road well into the future.
Kosovo remains a home to sites of vital importance to Serbia's religion and identity. Serbia ought to be the new nation's main trading partner. Instead, Serbs have reacted violently and are unlikely to recognize Kosovo any time soon. In addition, many other nations of the world are dealing with separatist movements of their own, and they remain steadfastly opposed to Kosovo because of the precedent it might set. Chief among these is Russia, which has dealt with Chechnya and also struggles with Russian enclaves in nations that once were a part of the Soviet Union.
The answer to all of this is for the nations dealing with these problems to form governments that allow self-rule, economic freedom and recognize basic human rights regardless of ethnicity. Serbia has made strides toward these ends but remains far from free economically or in other ways. It would be hard to imagine a Serbia that protected minority rights and freedoms being belligerent toward a Kosovo government that did the same. But then, a separate Kosovo would not have been necessary had Serbia supported those rights from the beginning.
Because we live in a real world, not an ideal one, NATO forces, including about 1,400 Americans, will need to remain in Kosovo to keep the peace and protect the nation's borders. Kosovo, meanwhile, has to deal with its own economic problems and high unemployment — two things difficult to overcome with an unfriendly Serbia next door.
Enjoy the independence party while it lasts. Making Kosovo work as a nation will take time and patience.