Exactly, it has been pointed out reoeatedly here that the first big blunder took ace when France and Germany rushed to recognise their WWI allies (Serbia and Croatia respectively).

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

I beg to differ: indeed US policy was coordinated with Germany's on this one since the 80's.
The US quest for global hegemony has persisted for over a century. Only the methods evolve. Rear Admiral A. Mahan, a prominent late XIX-century US geostrategist, emphasized the importance of the sea power, military activity, and the strategy of strangling Eurasian continental powers in the «anaconda coils». US President W. Wilson espoused the idea of a «peaceful» partition of rival countries and their subsequent occupation. US President W. Taft suggested using the US dollar as the instrument of subduing other nations. The common elements of those strategies were both the idea of the US global dominance and the notion that Russia had to be chosen as the prime target of such efforts. Kosovo is no stranger to this game. Sorry.