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.
Christopher Bennett, a member of the British-Slovene Society, presents a cautionary political history of Bosnia’s disintegration, war and peace process. He concludes by proposing a paradigm shift aimed at building ethno-national security and making the peace settlement self-sustaining.
Presentations by author:
1st November – London School of Economics
2nd November – De Montfort University (Leicester)
3rd November – University of Oxford
4th November – University of Kent (Canterbury)