Once, Sarajevo was the name associated with the outbreak of World War I. Today it has become the shorthand for new horrors. The outbreak of war on the European Community's doorstep in the summer of 1991 confronted post-Cold War Europe with its first crisis. The roots of today's war in the Balkans are complex and need to be understood if the crisis is to be mastered. Despite the internal reasons for the current fighting, the former Yugoslavia is far from unique. A haunting doubt has begun to seep into the minds of Western leaders that the disintegration of Yugoslavia might be a model for future developments in other multi-national states, in particular the former Soviet Union. In his attempt to piece together the tragedy of what is happening in the Balkans, the author examines the fighting on the ground in Yugoslavia, but also looks at the lessons to be learned from the fumbling inability of the West or the UN to forestall or halt the conflict.