In February 2008, on opposite sides of the world, two fledgling states faced decisive moments. In south-east Asia, attempts were made to assassinate both the president and prime minister of Timor-Leste. The prime minister, Xanana Gusmão, narrowly escaped harm. The president, José Ramos-Horta, sustained life-threatening bullet-wounds. The assassination attempts and the political instability of the country called into question Timor-Leste's viability as an independent state. Meanwhile, in south-east Europe, the Kosovo parliament declared independence. This was welcomed warmly by some countries, such as Australia, France, Germany and the United States, which promptly recognised the new state. But others, such as China, Russia and Spain, condemned it. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, claimed that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence upset the fabric of international society and that a proposed European Union mission to provide support for Kosovo amounted to a violation of international law. Outbreaks of violence in the Serbian capital Belgrade and along the border between Serbia and Kosovo illustrated the fragility of the new state of Kosovo and cast a cloud over independence festivities.

There is no small irony in the fact that Timor-Leste and Kosovo are struggling for their futures. Although there are many differences between the two countries, both served as late-twentieth-century laboratories for a new wave of experiments in state-building.