1. Saving Strangers Case Study: Bosnia
Seowon Lee
Shia Tianhua
Eszter Czeh

2. Former Yugoslav State

3. Tito, Josip Broz (1892-1980) ch8 pg. 244

4. 1
The EC decision to recognize the republics as independent states causes Bosnia to announce its independence.

5. EC decision
“Serbs living outside Serbia would have to accept the status of a minority group”

6. 2
Serbs declared its army would protect the Serbs in Bosnia.

7. Ethnic Composition in Bosnia

8. 3
At the very moment, the EC and the USA stayed out of the Bosnia situation, acknowledging its sovereignty. Bosnia found themselves in a situation where the rule of the gun had replaced the rule of law.

9. 4
Bosnia Serb army had eventually cleansed its way through large tracts of Bosnian territory.

10. 5
Western forces eventually took on such a policing role in Bosnia through the Implementation Force(IFOR) and the Stabilization Force(SFOR).
Peace settlement at Dayton, Ohio

11. 3&4 Tipping points, important decisions and the failure of international community

12. The demise of Yugoslav idea
Milosevic and “greater Serbia”
Crackdown in Kosovo
Slovenian and Croatian declaration of independence provided opportunity for Serbian nationalist

13. The Move of US Congress and Bush Administration 1
Us congress cut off financial aid
Bush accepted the Yugoslav president’s plea
Opportunity missed

14. The Move of US Congress and Bush Administration 2
Military campaign between JNA forces and Serb paramilitaries in 1991
Aim of the campaign
International response

15. Robert Badinter’s Recommendation (EC decision)
“ Can of Worms”
The Principle of “uti possidetis juris”
Serb Nationalism Contest EC by Force of Arms

16. Ethnic cleansing
Foča massacres & Višegrad massacres
Markale massacre

17. Washington Agreement
The Croat-Bosniak war officially ended on 23 February 1994
The cantonal system was selected to prevent dominance by one ethnic group over another

18. Safe-Areas Policy
The territories (cities) under the protection of the UN peacekeeping units UNPRFOR included Sarajevo, Žepa, Srebrenica, Goražde, Tuzla and Bihać.
one of the most controversial decisions of the United Nations.
By the end of the war every one of the Safe Areas had been attacked by the Serbs, and Srbrenica and Zepa were conquered.

19. Important Resolutions Passed By UN

20. UNPROFOR and NATO
Operation Summer '95
End of the war

21. Was the Wheeler criteria fulfilled?
What we think
Jun
Steven
Eszter
Treshold Criteria
Supreme humanitarian emergency O
Necessity/Last resort △
O/△
Proportionality
△/X
Positive Humanitarian Outcome
Additional Criteria
Humanitarian Motives
Humanitarian Justification
Legality
Selectivity

22. Supreme humanitarian emergency (O O O)
Ethnic cleansing
Systematic killing of muslims
„They beat them to death or at least close to it. When they put them into the mass grave I heard some of them begged: ’I’m alive, please don’t burry me!’ But they did…”

23. Necessity/Last resort (O △ O/△)
In the beginning of the conflict more decisive Western reaction could have helped?
“Whatever the practical difficulties in imposing sanctions on Milosevic for his treatment of Kosovo Albanians, it is clear that an opportunity was missed that might have ...put Milosevic on notice that there was a high price to pay for human rights abuses.”
At that the point when military strike was launched, it was the most effective way to put the war to an end

24. Proportionality (△ △/x o/△)
Air forces were quick and effective
BUT
Ground troops were not present in sufficient numbers to protect civilians
“the Secretariat reported that to defend and demilitarize the safe areas would require an additional 32,000 troops. In the end, fewer than 3,500 additional troops were sent to Bosnia”
Western forces were too concerned with their troops safety and didn’t send them to Bosnia altough rescuing civilians should have been their priority.

25. Positive Humanitarian Outcome (o/△ △ o)
The war was put to an end and Bosnia was saved from Serbian occupation
Several civilian lives were saved thanks to UNPROFOR and the NATO military strike
There was a follow-up (peacekeeping forces)
BUT
Ethnic problems are not solved and probably cannot be solved by force. Other methods should also be used, such as education.

26. Humanitarian Motives (O O O)
Western countries did not have any material gain in intervention
In fact, they had casualties and economic loss by financing the intervention
The “only” gain was the protection of civilians and the restoration of peace
Perhaps revenge and punish the Serbians

27. Humanitarian Justification (O O/△ O)
There was a humanitarian emergency: Muslims being massacred
Ground troops were not enough efficient (due to their numbers and mandate) so air forces had to support them
What do we call justice? The first priority of Western forces should have been saving civilians, but they just wanted to stop the war. They didn’t want to “waste” their soldiers so civilians were left unprotected.

28. Legality (O O O/△)
There are more possible interpretation of Resolution 836
It contained that troops may use „all necessary measures” to protect the safe areas and NATO argued that the air strikes were necessary steps
Russia claimed that military strike was illegal since it only gave permission to defend UN personnels and the safe area not attack against Serb ammunition dumps.
The ambiguity of the resolution might be an implied permission since a more direct permission was likely to fail. (Russia and China would have vetoed)

29. Selectivity (O O O)
We concluded that the intervention had no other purpose than humanitarian relief
UN had a “moral obligation” to intervene
The air attack was the best way to avoid UN troops getting killed

30. Bosnia now Official name: Bosnia-Herczegovina
Form of government: “emerging federal democratic republic”
Peacekeeping forces:
: IFOR, 60,000 troops
: SFOR
2004: EUFOR, about 7000 troops
2007: EUFOR, peacekeeping → civil policing
about 2500 troops
2010: only about 1500 troops
: non-permanent member of SC

31. Freedom in Bosnia Freedom House Country Report (2011)
Political Rights Score: 4
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Partly Free
Overview
„The reform process in Bosnia and Herzegovina stalled and nationalist rhetoric continued to rise in 2010, as the country prepared for the October parliamentary and presidential elections. The elections were peaceful and met basic international standards, although political pressure on the media increased.”

32. and The Criminals?...
Mladic in The Hague, the International Court of Justice
…but currently in hospital with “pneumonia”
In Belgrade, young protesters demonstrating for the “national hero.”
Milosevic died before the verdict, Karadzic’s trial is still ongoing

33. Thank you for your attention!!!