International Conference: Current Security Challenges for the Western Balkan Region Addressed by Means of Joint Responsibility and Cooperation SITUATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA BiH's ethnic composition is based on the On the other side, this institutional design has plurality of its main ethnic groups: 45.9% are strengthened divisive tendencies by Bosniak Muslims, 33.6% Serbs 19.8% Croats empowering nationalistic elites whose political and 1% others. Its institutional design is based platforms are based on adversarial nationalism on ethno-federalism of the three constituent rather than on offers for entity and state-wide peoples, the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska effective government. Permanent obstruction of (RS), and the Federation of Bosnia and decision-making at the central institutions has Herzegovina(Federation) dominated by made the functioning of BiH dependent on Bosniaks and Croats as well as the Brcko international interventionism. Thus, corporate District. These ethno-territorial autonomies form power-sharing based on ethno-territorial the basis and supersede power-sharing autonomy, mutual vetoes, adverse ethnic arrangements at the central level resulting in politics as well as extensive powers of weak state institutions. These include a international community together with weak rotational collective presidency, a rump council central institutions are primarily responsible for of ministers(formerly headed by rotation) and a the dysfunctionality of BiH. Hence, with a view two-chamber parliamentary assembly. to the effect of ethno-federalism almost two Representation in these institutions is based on decades later, the current'stability' in BiH can be the ratio 2:1 in favour of the Federation, or on attributed to the'absence of violence' as the 99 the formula one Bosniak, one Serb and one Croat who have unconditional veto right to all basic concept of political stability, as dened by Hurwitz(1973), rather than to normal decisions at the central level. functioning of state institutions. Similarly to Kosovo, BiH has seen a de facto partition while The Dayton Peace Accords(DPA) ended the the existence of the state is owed to the IC, secessionist war of Serbs and Croats from whose main motivation to negotiate the was to Bosnia and Herzegovina with the help of their stop the bloodshed. Thus, segregation, not kin states. From 1995 to date this country integration was viewed as the only solution. remains hardly functional due to the aws in the However, while such an approach resulted in institutional design of the DPA. The DPA successfully halting the armed conict, the strengthened ethno-territorial autonomy at the institutional aws continue to hamper the expense of the weak central institutions and functioning of the state. created a highly interventionist international presence reluctant to implement integrationist The frequent usage of extraordinary powers has elements of the DPA from the outset. The lack not only failed to create a cooperative culture of political process has immobilized cooperative among BiH elites, it has impeded transition to tendencies in local politics. Hence, the risk of local ownership by way of fostering external international disengagement is a high-risk regulation which made international actors the possibility threatening the disintegration and dominating element of BiH's political system. collapse of the country. This has trapped both The consequences of these interventionist internationals and domestic players in the orbit policies are far-reaching: they have not allowed of a closed circuit of political stalemate while for the development of internal political BiH's future continues to remain uncertain. processes, they have truncated Hence, BiH is a country in limbo which owes its democratization, thwarted attempts to create existence to international determination to keep bargaining processes and, not least, damaged the country together. the sustainability of the BiH by creating dependency on international interventionism.