We really don't need the hassle of one of our allies stirring up crap.
True.
I think the Balkans comparison is pretty reasonable, though. It's rather disturbing to see Great Power games starting to heat up again. It's not exactly the same as before, of course, but if you put China in the role of Germany in the latter half of the 19th Century, the US and EU in the role of the Entente powers, and Russia in the role of, well, Russia ... it's a little eerie.