An agreement has been reached to end the violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. The accord, negotiated by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, came as NATO warplanes prepared for a military strike against Serbian forces.

According to the agreement, Serbia will withdraw its forces from Kosovo and allow a team of international observers to monitor the pullback. President Milosevic also agreed to start negotiations on the future status of the province.

But Western leaders remain cautious in their assessment. President Clinton, commenting on the agreement, stated "Commitments are not compliance. Balkan graveyards are filled with President Milosevic's broken promises."

In a rare televised address, President Milosevic stated, "The agreement ... will solve the problem in a peaceful way ... in accordance with the interests of our country."

On Monday, leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization authorized air strikes against Yugoslavia if President Milosevic fails to comply with UN demands.

Has peace been achieved in Kosovo? Will the agreement avert a wider war? Did NATO's threat of force make a difference?

Alex Dragnich, Professor Emeritus of political science at Vanderbilt University and Jonathan Landay, foreign policy and defense reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, answer your questions.