The international presence in Pristina is overwhelming. The UN mission in Kosovo has taken over the largest buildings in the town centre, and the UN administration has protected itself with security guards and rolls of razor wire. An international colony has taken hold in the Dragodan quarter, up on the hill below the KFOR base: many of the undamaged houses have been rented by international non-governmental organisations, which attach their placards to the gateposts; others are inhabited by the staff of the international bureaucracy which currently governs Kosovo A whole street, cordoned off by the Americans, is protected by a wall of sandbags and armoured vehicles.