I'm presently sitting in Pristina, working for one of these international organizations and there is consensus here that this is the LARGEST collection of international organizations in one place, working on one project, ever. Every decision, every effort, must be negotiated by all the international organizations before implementation and as such, when one proposes a "cat", by the time negotiations with the IFIs, US, EU, EAR, etc., are finished, Kosovo gets a "dog". I'm not exaggerating when I say that experts and institutions are tripping over themselves (and petty bureaucratic infighting is the norm as the institutions have to "justify" their budgets).

As for post-Katrina New Orleans, most of the agencies there were US, not international. The NGO's, i.e. Red Cross, etc., worked within their congressional mandates and in accordance with pre-existing rules of engagement (there are pre-standing rules of liaison between these institutions). In Kosovo, this is a free-for-all of confusion and conflicting madates. It's a mess. Let's hope the new "independent" Kosovo will take control of this sooner, rather than later (but it's not likely when the US office has place some very "strong-willed" individuals here who would not know subtlety or diplomacy if it hit them in the arse).