A big dork who has spent most of the last eight years living and working in the Balkans. In the 1990s, Kosovo was a large part of my life during graduate school at Princeton University. The Balkans have meant much to me in my life and I have worked hard to help those countries develop into more tolerant and understanding societies. Although I have no ancestral ties to the regions, I am grateful to my Serbian and Albanian friends who have brought me into their own families over the years. I look forward to the day when all the states of the region -- including the newest one, Kosovo -- possess have stable, multi-ethnic democracies that protect the rights, culture and security of all communities.