Andy Paul

Kosovo, one of the world’s newest states, is now officially open for business and it’s their former “liberators” who are vying for control of some of the country’s most lucrative enterprises.

Earlier this week, the NY Times reported that the state’s telecommunication company was up for sale and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was in a bind to choose between the bids of two former diplomats: former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Envoy to the Balkans, James Pardew.  Both are viewed by many in the country as heroes for their roles in the 1999 intervention that separated Kosovo from Serbia.

However, Albright and Pardew are only two of the many former American officials returning to Kosovo for business, causing some to question the ethics of such actions.  While there is no law preventing former U.S. officials from doing business where they once served in a governmental capacity, the closeness of…