The dissolution of former Yugoslavia occurred at a time when the United States envisaged their retreat from European affairs; the European Communities were just preparing to launch an ambitious project of political and monetary union, including a common foreign and security policy, while Russia was absorbed by its own transition to a post-Soviet status and grim economical challenges. The ethnic clashes that accompanied the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia still influences today the stability and security of the Balkans' societies, as they prepare to join NATO and the European Union. Ethnic extremism can indeed have a negative influence on the stability and security of the Balkans democratic societies as long as it is allowed to take the forefront of the political scene and overshadow the real issues of the peoples in the Balkans.