The peoples of Kosovo are better off with an independent state than without one. Failure to adopt the Ahtisaari Plan would have meant an eventual guerrilla war or unsupervised independence with its potential for poor governance and lack of respect for minority communities. If a guerrilla war had developed, a changed geopolitical climate would not have permitted the same quick results obtained by the KLA in 1998 and 1999. Violence, had it broken out, would have been protracted, tempting Islamic militants to offer their services in support of the resisters. Kosovo, whatever its challenges, is clearly on a peaceful path to its future.

Independence provides reasonable prospects for achieving the basic goals of both the 1999 international intervention and the goals of the UN when it put the Ahtisaari process in motion:

• Democratic government

• Ethnic tolerance in political and legal systems

• Economic progress in a market economy

• Security against renewed armed conflict in the region

Democracy

Independent Kosovo clearly enjoys democratic governance with an elected assembly, a government selected through traditional parliamentary processes and vigorous competition between the government and an opposition. These features are not new with independence; they have been manifest at least since the fall 2004 elections and developed during the two rounds of elections before that. How Kosovo's democracy evolves depends on the international community staying out of the way and the commitment of government and opposition leaders to important domestic priorities.