But even in the midst of a discussion time, sides are claiming victories and NATO is promising to take military action to help resolve the issue.

Instead of continuing the centuries-long fights and threats, Serbs and Albanians need to focus on a compromise, not on proclaiming victory in an ongoing conflict. If this ethnic war continues much longer, neither side will be able to claim victory.

The struggle in Kosovo, although much longer than some our nation has faced, exhibits similarities to one of our own wars.

In the late 1300s, the Serbs' Kosovo was taken over and ruled by the Ottoman Empire, much the same way England extended its rule over the American colonies.

After World War I, allied nations forced Serbs, Croats and Slovenes into a united region, later known as Yugoslavia.

For a time, Kosovo was autonomous, but when that right was revoked, the Kosovo Liberation Army began to demand independence, as American revolutionaries demanded freedom from England. Violence then broke out, as it did in our own Revolutionary War.

Most Americans fail to see the parallels between the Kosovo situation and our own nation's history.

But if and when a peace plan is approved, NATO has promised to send troops to the region, some of which will be Americans.

Not just because Americans likely will be sent to the region, but because the crisis is much like one our nation went through itself, we need to be concerned with activity in the region.

NATO, rather than planning military action, should be planning to help the sides gather information from their people so they can successfully resume negotiations in March.

Negotiations between the two factions should not be extended any further. NATO must step up its role and use its influence to end this conflict.

Serbs, Albanians, as well as NATO and its allies, need to realize that planning for additional military confrontations, as if they are inevitable, is not the way to plan for a peaceful future for the region.