"Yugoslavia does not exist without Kosovo! Yugoslavia would disintegrate without Kosovo! Yugoslavia and Serbia are not going to give up Kosovo!" ("The Economist", 9/7/96, pg. 48). Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic spoke these words. His people share this view, because there exists a strong sense of nationalism throughout most of Yugoslavia.
             Kosovo, the poorest province of Serbia, is the stage for one of the most important international situations in the news today. Kosovo is the home of 1.7 million ethnic Albanians ("The Economist", 1/11/97, pg. 53), who are fighting for their independence from Serbia. Every day, more and more of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians are fleeing Serbia, to neighboring Albania, to escape deadly fighting.
             The conflict in Kosovo is not exactly recent, as it is said to have started over 600 years ago, in 1389. Peace talks are currently under way, but negotiation is not coming easy. The ethnic Albanians, led by the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), feel that the working and living conditions in Kosovo are not tolerable. The Serbs feel that Yugoslavia cannot exist without Kosovo, and refuse to grant it autonomy.
             In 1389, the Serbs fought a battle against the Turks in Kosovo, "which the Serbs consider their ancestral homeland" (CNN, 2/23/99). The Serbs lost the battle, called "Kosovo Polje" (CNN). Although defeated, the Serbs celebrated the battle and it remains a symbol for ethnic pride.
             Soon after the end of World War I, Kosovo became part of the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Eleven years later, it became an absolute monarchy, and was divided into regions, regardless of racial composition. Its name was changed to Yugoslavia. It wasn't until 1947 that the Yugoslav constitution granted autonomy to Kosovo, which was largely occupied by ethnic Albanians. The Albanians instituted Albanian-language schools.
             The real trouble ...