This has the makings of classic conflict, ... The American view is to lean towards independence; the European Union will say, 'Let's figure out a way not to make that decision'; and the Russians on the opposite side saying, 'Over my dead body.'

The whole reason for a threat is to show there is a line. And show that the U.S. will respond if he crosses it.

I think she's proving the adage that where you stand depends on where you sit. It's moved her to a situation where the only tools are talk and travel. She can't send military in. Her role now is to talk and to travel, and she's doing it reasonably well.

Clearly it would have been much better if (NATO) didn't have to bomb Montenegro because we would have made the distinction between Montenegro as the kind of power (western countries) would like to see ... and that Mr. Milosevic was really the problem,

The Russians want to be an indispensable player in the Balkans. But they know they can only do that if they use their power wisely. They know that calling on Milosevic to cancel the second round is pointless, so they are holding fire until they can be more productive.

The clearest losers are the Serb people who withstood an 11- week bombing campaign in order to overcome the policies of their leader. Clearly the Kosovar Albanians are big losers. Thousands, if not tens of thousands were killed.