Bosnia and Herzegovina: Parsing the Options

Event Summary

• Read the USIPeace Briefing Bosnia and Herzegovina: Parsing the Options summarizing this event.

Overview

Vice President Biden warned politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina that failure to adhere to the "only real path" ahead could bring a descent into "ethnic chaos." Yet the threat of violence for Bosnia and the corresponding actions that the leaders of Bosnia, the US, and the EU should take are hotly contested. Balkans experts discussed their differing assessments of the situation and how the US should respond:

• How serious is the current situation in Bosnia? Is there potential for violence?
• What is needed to overcome ethnic divisions and provide effective governance?
• What should the goal of the new EUSR mission be and what powers should it possess?
• Should Bosnia's accession to the EU be conditioned on constitutional reform?
• What options exist to promote stability or to avert a crisis?

Speakers

• Mitar Kujundzic
  Ambassador to the United States, Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Washington
• Stuart Jones
  Deputy Assistant Secretary, US Department of State
• Obrad Kesic
  Senior Partner, TSM Global Consultants, LLC
• Kurt Bassuener
  Senior Associate, Democratization Policy Council
• Edward Joseph
  Visiting Senior Fellow, Center for Transatlantic Relations
• Daniel Serwer, Moderator
  Vice President, Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, U.S. Institute of Peace