Toward Peace In Bosnia

Cousens (director of research, International Peace Academy) and Cater (researcher, International Peace Academy) consider the limitations of the Dayton accords and their failure to produce peace, political reform, democracy, multiculturalism, and economic development in Bosnia. They consider internat

The book is about the peace implementation process in Bosnia-Herzegovina viewed, or interpreted reasonably, as a continuation of war by other means. Twenty years after the beginning of the Dayton peace accords, we need to summarize the results: the author shares the general agreement in public opinion, according to which the process is a failure. Pehar presents a broad, yet sufficiently detailed, view of the entire peace agreement implementation that preserves 'the state of war,' and thus encourages the war-prone attitudes in the parties to the agreement. He examines the political and narratological underpinnings to the process of the imposed international (predominantly USA) interpretation of the Dayton constitution and peace treaty as a whole. The key issue is the – perhaps only semi-consciously applied – divide ut imperes strategy. After nearly twenty years, the peace in document was not translated into a peace on the ground because, with regard to the key political and constitutional issues and attitudes, Bosnia remains a deeply divided society. The book concludes that the international supervision served a counter-purpose: instead of correcting the aberration and guarding the meaning that was originally accepted in the Dayton peace treaty, the supervision approved the aberration and imposed it as a new norm under the clout of 'the power of ultimate interpretation.'

While international in scope, the Bosnian peace operation has received important political, military, & financial support from the U.S. This report reviews the implementation of the peace operation, specifically U.S. costs & commitments, & the progress made in achieving its key objectives -- to create conditions that allow Bosnia's leaders to provide security for the people; create a unified, democratic Bosnia that respects the rule of law & internationally recognized human rights, including cooperating with the war crimes tribunal; rebuild the economy; & ensure the right of people to return to their prewar homes.

Ten years on from the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in November 1995, the legacy of the Bosnian war still shapes every aspect of the political, social and economic environment of the tiny state. This state of affairs is highlighted by the fact that Bosnia is still under international control, with the Office of the International High Representative regularly using its powers to dismiss elected presidents, prime-ministers and MPs and to impose legislation over the resistance of elected legislatures at national, regional and local level. What has changed in the ten years since Dayton? Is international regulation helping to establish a sustainable peace in Bosnia? What lessons can be learned for nation-building in Bosnia? This volume was previously published as a special issue of the leading journal International Peacekeeping.

This edited collection brings together policy specialists and academics from the UK, Europe, the US and Canada to assess and analyse lessons from ten years of nation-building in Bosnia.

Two decades after the Dayton Peace Agreement came into force, Bosnia is not at war. However, the absence of war is not peace. Bosnia has failed to move on from conflict. Political processes are deadlocked. The country is in a state of political, social and economic paralysis. As the international community has downgraded its presence, conditions have deteriorated, irredentist agendas have resurfaced and the outlook is increasingly negative. War remains a risk because of myriad unresolved issues, zero-sum politics and incompatible positions among rival ethno-national elites.In the face of paralysis, international officials repeat the mantra that there is no alternative to Bosnia's European path and urge the country's leaders to see reason, to temper their rhetoric and to carry out internationally approved reforms -- to no avail. Despite international reluctance to recognise failure, the day will come when it is impossible to ignore the gravity of the situation. When that day arrives, the international community will have to address the shortcomings of the peace process. This, in turn, will involve opening up the Dayton settlement. Christopher Bennett presents a cautionary political history of Bosnia's disintegration, war and peace process. And he concludes by proposing a paradigm shift aimed at building ethno-national security and making the peace settlement self-sustaining.

Combining photographs and interviews, this volume documents the international operation underway in late-1990s-Bosnia to enforce and stabilize the peace and promote political reconciliation and economic reconstruction. The text also contains a summary of the Dayton Peace Agreement, a report on minefields and numerous maps.