Moreover, this strengthening was roughly proportional to the rise in the percentage of respondents saying that they followed the Kosovo question closely.

ECONOMIST: The late march on Kosovo

From the start, the administration appears to have underestimated the obduracy of Mr Milosevic, and to have deluded itself into believing that the Kosovo question could be solved at relatively little cost.

ECONOMIST: Did Clinton think it through?

Kosovo's United Nations governor, Michael Steiner, counsels "standards before status" - establish the rule of law and functioning institutions before dealing with the thorny question of whether Kosovo should remain part of Serbia or go it alone.

BBC: Analysis: Motives behind Yugoslavia's demise

In 1999, at the height of the crisis in Kosovo, Richard gave an interview in which he addressed the question of why the United States was engaged in bringing peace to that war-torn corner of the world.

WHITEHOUSE: Remembering Richard Holbrooke