It appears that a series of cascading and interconnected events such as the rise of nationalism, post-election disarray, and the imminent resolution of the final status of Kosovo is destabilizing Serbia. Until very recently, it seemed that Serbia was moving away from nationalist tendencies and the memories and lingering resentments of the Balkan War and striving towards a more democratic and open society interested in joining the international community especially such Western institutions as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).

However, since Serbia’s separation from Montenegro, the country has seemed adrift. The country has been thrown into a state of crisis by the three-month delay in forming a government after the January 2007 general elections. This state of flux has been further complicated by the very real prospect that a de facto independence is likely to be granted to Kosovo, currently a UN protectorate, but one that is territorially still part of Serbia.