As they gathered in Sarajevo yesterday, the world's leaders had no shortage of advice on how they should proceed with the Stability Pact designed to bring peace and democracy to the Balkans.
Mr Carlos Westendorp, former High Representative for the international community in Bosnia, presented Sarajevo itself as a model of how to reconcile peoples recently engaged in a genocidal war with one another.
The international investor, Mr George Soros, argued that the key to building a lasting peace was to introduce a concept of citizenship based on shred values as opposed to tribal loyalties. Mr Horst Koehler, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, insisted that peace could only come through painstaking work on individual projects that give citizens a stake in democracy.
In the end, the leaders settled for a broad-brush blueprint for peace, excluding Serbia from all but the most urgent humanitarian assistance until President Slobodan Milosevic is removed from power, but promising the rest of the region substantial help towards creating democratically-based, market economies.
The US repeated its determination to ensure that Europe bears the brunt of the cost of rebuilding the Balkans - not least because Washington paid the lion's share of the war that destroyed much of Yugoslavia's infrastructure.
Despite the unity of purpose displayed in Sarajevo yesterday, the details of the Stability Pact remain vague - a consequence of the confusion at the heart of western policy towards the region.
This confusion is reflected in the weak position of Mr Bodo Hombach, the Stability Pact's co-ordinator and a former aide to the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder.
EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday refused to approve a dedicated staff of high-level civil servants for Mr Hombach, insisting that he make do with officials seconded from national governments. It took three hours of negotiating for Mr Hombach to secure EU funding for an office, driver and travel costs and he was obliged to settle for a monthly salary of €15,258 - not a large sum by Brussels standards.
Some states were determined to punish Mr Hombach for the pressure Mr Schroder exerted to secure the job for his protege.
Others, such as Britain, France and Spain, were concerned that the ambitious German should not undermine the authority of Mr Javier Solana as the EU's future foreign policy supremo, Mr Chris Patten as Commissioner responsible for EU enlargement, or Mr Bernard Kouchner as the UN's top civilian authority in Kosovo.
Representatives from more than 100 countries agreed €2 billion in aid for Kosovo. The more difficult decisions lie ahead, as the international community decides where to concentrate its reconstruction aid. Nothing typifies the West's confusion so much as their attitude to Mr Milo Djukanovic, the President of Montenegro.
The international community wants to reward Mr Djukanovic for his steadfast support throughout NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia but it is terrified of the prospect of Montenegro seceding from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This would leave Serbia as the sole component of the Yugoslav federation, strengthening the case for the independence of Kosovo.
If there is one goal that unites western leaders, it is their determination to maintain Kosovo as part of Serbia and the Yugoslav federation. They fear that an independent Kosovo could merge with Albania, destabilising neighbouring Macedonia and, in turn, the entire region.
They believe that the people of Kosovo could be reintegrated into a democratic Serbia once Mr Milosevic leaves power, an event they hope will happen sooner rather than later, but they lack confidence in the two leading opposition figures in Yugoslavia, Mr Vuk Draskovic and Mr Zoran Djindjic.
This means that the process of building confidence in democracy in the Balkans is likely to be slow and painstaking - a frustrating prospect for such a media-conscious politicians as Mr Hombach.
Kevin Rafter adds:
At the Balkans Summit in Sarajevo the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said Ireland was anxious to play a full role in the reconstruction of the region. He said requests for more troops, to add to the 100 Irish soldiers already serving in the region, would be examined should the need arise.