The Process of Nation-Building in Bosnia after the Civil War

Bosnia Herzegovina is a multi-ethnic State including three major groups enshrined in the constitution as the founder races and 17 other minorities. After separation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, this country has faced with the challenge of nation-building for almost a century. In the beginning, this country became under the sovereignty of the Austria-Hungary Empire, then under the control of the nationalist Serb monarchy for the formation of the first Yugoslavia and finally under the rule of Tito's socialist regime. In early 1960s, the system of power division in the framework of federation was established which finally resulted in separation and civil war in 1990s. After the civil war of the 1990s, a complicated system of power division was created on the basis of race-share-of-power which has so far survived with the international support and supervision. The main question in this paper is to what extend the developments after the civil war have contributed to the process of nation-building in Bosnia? Sixteen years after the end of the civil war and despite international pressure and establishment of political structures, the author concludes, this process has not been yet fully institutionalized and this country is still prone to new political developments.