Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is located on the Balkan Peninsula in southeast Europe. Its population of approximately 4 million consists primarily of three major ethnic and religious groups: Bosniak Muslims (48%), Serb Orthodox (34%), and Croat Catholics (15%).
Bosnia was ruled by the Ottomans for four centuries (1463–1878), then becoming part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1878–1914). After World War II (1939–1945) Bosnia became a component of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the communist leader Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980). The rise to power of the nationalist Serb Slobodan Milosevic (b. 1941) in 1986 was a key factor leading to ethnic strife and the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. After the secession of Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnia held a referendum and declared its independence on April 5, 1992. However, Bosnian Serb leaders, desiring union with neighboring Serbia to create an ethnically pure territory, formed paramilitary groups to partition Bosnia and conducted what became known as ethnic cleansing—the massacre and expulsion of Bosniaks and Croats. Fighting broke out between Croats and Bosniaks as well, engulfing Bosnia in four years of devastating war during which some 250,000 people perished.
The conflict ended on December 14, 1995, with the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace, brokered by international powers led by the United States. The agreement included a constitution that created a democratic government designed to protect both individual rights and the group interests of the three constituent peoples: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs.
As of 2004 Bosnia had a small central state structure and two entities: the Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republika Srpska. Powers of the central state include foreign policy, trade and customs policy, monetary policy, and inter-entity law enforcement. The state is headed by a tripartite presidency, consisting of one Bosniak and one Croat, directly elected by citizens of the Federation, and one Serb directly elected by citizens of the Republika Srpska. The presidency conducts foreign policy, signs treaties, appoints ambassadors, proposes the annual budget to parliament, and exercises civilian command over the armed forces. The presidency nominates the chair of the Council of Ministers, who then appoints additional ministers, subject to parliamentary approval. The Council proposes laws to the parliament and implements policies on matters within the jurisdiction of the state. The Parliamentary Assembly consists of two houses: the House of Representatives, representing the electorate of each entity, and the House of Peoples, representing the three constituent peoples.
The entities are responsible for finance, commercial and social matters, and general legislation. Each has a directly elected presidency, a government headed by a prime minister, and a legislative assembly. The federation is further divided into ten cantons (territorial divisions) with broad responsibility for local governance.
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/THE GALE GROUP)The constitution provides for an independent judiciary and incorporates the guarantees of the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, including freedom of expression, assembly, religion, and movement, the right to a fair trial and nondiscrimination. In reality, continued ethnic division often results in discrimination against minority populations, in particular in areas of refugee return, and in ethnic, rather than public, interests dominating politics at all levels. Ten years after the conflict, war criminals remain at large, often with the support of political-criminal networks, while thousands of investigated war crimes have yet to come to trial. Justice is further impaired by weak law enforcement institutions heavily subject to political influence.
Bosnia's stability since the war has largely resulted from the presence of international troops and the Office of the High Representative, an international organization charged with implementing the peace agreement. The High Representative has the power to enact or rescind legislation and to remove from power those who seek to undermine the peace. Although designed to secure the peace, these powers are wielded in the absence of a popular mandate by the citizens.
Bosnia, among the poorest countries in Europe, aspires to join the European Union (EU).
Ethnic Cleansing; Serbia and Montenegro.
Bibliography
Bose, Sumantra, Bosnia after Dayton: Nationalist Partition and Internationalc Intervention. London: C. Hurst & Co., 2002.
Freedom House. "Bosnia and Herzegovinia." Freedom in the World 2004. New York: Freedom House, 2004. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/res earch/freeworld/2004/countryratings/bos nia.htm>.
Friedman, Francine. Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Polity on the Brink. New York: Routledge, 2004.
General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. <http://www.ohr.int>.
Holbrooke, Richard. To End a War. New York: Random House, 1998.
Malcolm, Noel. Bosnia: A Short History. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Silber, Laura and Allan Little. Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation. New York: Penguin Books, 1997.
United States Department of State. Background Note: Bosnia and Herzegovina. <http://www.state.gov>.
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