Not so long ago, most veteran observers of Eastern Europe agreed that the breakup of Yugoslavia would have been a nightmare. Yes, indeed it was. After a turbulent decade of wars and atrocities, six independent nation-states are now struggling to better their fates in their own ways. Iraq is, of course, no Yugoslavia, but there are a number of similarities.

First, both Iraq and Yugoslavia were historically multicultural. Slovenes, Croats and Serbs made agreements to form one nation instead of three because of harsh international realities in the early twentieth century. When those hostile circumstances disappeared, they found themselves hating each other. Second, both countries experienced dictatorship in order to maintain their unity. While Serbs' domination frustrated other nations for long time in the former Yugoslavia, Sunnis imposed their decisions upon Shiites and Kurds in Iraq. Those bad memories are inerasable even these days. Third, the two dictators, Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein, were removed only after the U.S. led military interventions, inevitably creating mixed feelings among the people toward the West.

As smaller nations of former Yugoslavia are moving toward democratic politics in their own domestic structures, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds in Iraq will learn more about democracy once they are left in peace. Dividing the national wealth will be a difficult question, but may not be entirely impossible. Let's give them a chance and split them.