This dissertation explores the ‘socio-cultural dilemma’ facing international peacebuilders in war-torn societies through a case study of the post-conflict process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is done with the help of a typological approach of the grid-group Cultural Theory framework, which defines four social solidarities – or ideal type cultures – of individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism and hierarchy. A central argument in the thesis is that international intervention is culturally individualistic and/or egalitarian, thus socio-culturally unviable in war-torn societies, which are usually dominated by hierarchical and fatalist social solidarities. This underlying socio-cultural conflict is used to trace the Bosnian post-war process, where the relationship between the managing international institution – the Office of the High Representative of the International Community – and the local nationalist elites repeatedly changed in response to the failure of international policies to produce the desired result, namely broad socio-cultural change in the local politics and society. Four different periods in the process are identified: 1) ’economic conditionality’, 2) ‘Bonn Powers’, 3) ‘the concept of ownership’ and 4) ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’. Each period is defined by different culturally biased policies, supported by corresponding social relations and strategic behaviours. The individualistic and egalitarian biased approaches usually resulted in failures, as they were not viable in the local socio-cultural context. After adapting to the local context, new viable approaches produced results in specific policy areas, but at the cost of unwanted side-effects in the form of reinforcement of dominant social solidarities. The result was therefore contrary to the broad goal of the process, which was to transform the local political culture. In other words, the defining and re-defining of the OHR’s role in the Bosnian process was a consequence of the dilemma of having to make an unsatisfactory choice: either to adapt to the way the political game is played in the Bosnian socio-cultural context in order to achieve effectiveness in the policy process, or to stay true to the peacebuilders’ own cultural biases and attempt to change the local socio-cultural accordingly. In essence, it is argued, this is the socio-cultural viability dilemma that is inherent in international peacebuilding. In unveiling of the socio-cultural viability dilemma, the dissertation explores central problems in the Bosnian post-conflict process. It provides a credible explanation to a number of hitherto unexplained difficulties and paradoxes experienced in Bosnia. It concludes that the international intervention in this particular case was neither a success story nor a failure per se, but one which failed to properly address the dilemma of socio-cultural viability. The key conclusions regarding peacebuilding in general are that there should be a greater under¬¬standing of socio-cultural issues in peacebuilding in order to better manage the socio-cultural viability dilemma. Practically, this means that international peacebuilders need to adapt to local context and strive towards the goal of local ownership of the process. The aim should be to make the intervention as viable as possible, as quickly as possible, to boldly implement policies that promote changes in the local socio-cultural context, and to withdraw only after the necessary conditions for local ownership are in place.

This study considers the ontological value of metaphor as a site of ceaseless interaction among multiple (gendered) subjects, drawing on the theoretical work of Max Black, Victor Turner, Jacques Derrida, Paul Ricœur, George Lakoff, and Mark Johnson. Its focus is on the particular function of metaphor, locally and internationally, in three of the “new wars” of the twentieth century. The first chapter examines how the bridge metaphor, undergirded by cultural discourses on Mostar’s Old Bridge and Ivo Andrić’s The Bridge on the Drina, shaped knowledge of gendered experiences in the Bosnian War. The second chapter historicizes the cockroach metaphor, which features in many representations of the Rwandan Genocide, and identifies how “the cockroach” is gendered by metaleptic reference to ubuhake, or pastoral clientship—which gained metaphoric significance through populist movements in the 1950s, when Saverio Naigiziki published The Optimist. The third chapter explores depictions of female civilians, combatants, and suicide-bombers as “prisoners,” considering this metaphor’s gendered variations from Aleksandr Pushkin’s “Prisoner of the Caucasus” to discourses on the Chechen Wars. These three metaphors are of central importance to the production of knowledge about how and in what ways post-cold-war conflicts are gendered. Frequently, the international community objectifies “distant conflicts” through the same metaphors that, for local agents, articulate political self-identifications and enact gendered violence. Locally-initiated metaphors, thusly circulating among multiple discourses, produce interactive sites of semantic investment and imaginary exchange. Global and regional representations in metaphor of the Bosnian War, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Chechen Wars enter into common if asymmetrical networks of geopolitical and temporal interactions structured in part by human rights norms in the 1990s. By tracing the historical, cultural, and modal transformations of bridge, cockroach, and prisoner metaphors, this study investigates how fiction, poetry, journalism, memoir, testimony, film, and performance gender knowledge of the Bosnian War, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Chechen Wars.

This study considers the ontological value of metaphor as a site of ceaseless interaction among multiple (gendered) subjects, drawing on the theoretical work of Max Black, Victor Turner, Jacques Derrida, Paul Ricœur, George Lakoff, and Mark Johnson. Its focus is on the particular function of metaphor, locally and internationally, in three of the “new wars” of the twentieth century. The first chapter examines how the bridge metaphor, undergirded by cultural discourses on Mostar’s Old Bridge and Ivo Andrić’s The Bridge on the Drina, shaped knowledge of gendered experiences in the Bosnian War. The second chapter historicizes the cockroach metaphor, which features in many representations of the Rwandan Genocide, and identifies how “the cockroach” is gendered by metaleptic reference to ubuhake, or pastoral clientship—which gained metaphoric significance through populist movements in the 1950s, when Saverio Naigiziki published The Optimist. The third chapter explores depictions of female civilians, combatants, and suicide-bombers as “prisoners,” considering this metaphor’s gendered variations from Aleksandr Pushkin’s “Prisoner of the Caucasus” to discourses on the Chechen Wars. These three metaphors are of central importance to the production of knowledge about how and in what ways post-cold-war conflicts are gendered. Frequently, the international community objectifies “distant conflicts” through the same metaphors that, for local agents, articulate political self-identifications and enact gendered violence. Locally-initiated metaphors, thusly circulating among multiple discourses, produce interactive sites of semantic investment and imaginary exchange. Global and regional representations in metaphor of the Bosnian War, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Chechen Wars enter into common if asymmetrical networks of geopolitical and temporal interactions structured in part by human rights norms in the 1990s. By tracing the historical, cultural, and modal transformations of bridge, cockroach, and prisoner metaphors, this study investigates how fiction, poetry, journalism, memoir, testimony, film, and performance gender knowledge of the Bosnian War, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Chechen Wars.

This study aims to investigate and identify the democratic restrictions in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2018. The country is internationally known for its burdensome history of war in the 1990s, however, Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to be in the process of developing. In addition to having one of the world’s most complicated political systems, the country’s efforts to improve their democracy have not been recognized. Therefore, the question at issue will be operationalized by utilizing the theory of polyarchy composed by Robert Dahl. This theory establishes seven institutions; elected political officials, free and fair elections, inclusive suffrage, the right to run for public office, freedom of expression, alternative sources of information and associational autonomy. These institutions will be examined using empiricism that has been developed with textual analysis. Moreover, the institutions will be analyzed to ascertain if these rights can be found within the Bosnian society.                     The results revealed that only one of the institutions, namely, “inclusive suffrage” is maintained in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Four of the remaining institutions, which are; elected political officials, free and fair elections, the right to run for public office and associational autonomy, were recognized as partially maintained. The last two institutions; the right to run for public office and alternative sources of information did not meet the requirements. Due to these results, it can be established that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not maintain all seven requirements of Dahl’s theory. Despite the country’s efforts to improve their democracy, the democratic process of Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to have ceased.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the parties (USA, Great Britain, UN and the European Union) legitimize their intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina as seen from without the conceptions of sovereignty and intervention. USA and the UN have legitimized their intervention on security reasons. The American president, George W. Bush, claimed that democracies never engage in war with each other and that democracies were prosperous just because they were democracies. According to the president, that is why it is important to democratise the whole Balkan region to protect the international community from terrorism which grows in unstable and undemocratic states. UN resolutions claim that the situation in Bosnia is a threat to international peace and security and urged all state members to do everything they can for stability in Bosnia-Herzegovina. European Union and Great Britain saw the organized crime that spreads through Balkan as a major threat to Europe. To be able to deal with his problem, EU is asking for more cooperation among the European states. Bosnia is a member of the Council of Europe and is also involved in the Stabilisation and association process for South eastern Europe with the EU. The purpose of these memberships is to foster the political and economic development in Bosnia and lead to full membership in the European Union, but only if Bosnia fulfils all the reforms that EU demands. To get economic aid from the EU, Bosnian leaders are forced to reform and engage in regional cooperation. In the long run democratisation is the goal for all the parties, while security is the main issue at short-term. That is why the main concern for USA is for now the war on terrorism and organized crime for the EU. When signing the Dayton peace agreement, Bosnian leaders have agreed upon sharing sovereignty with the international community indefinitely. Dayton agreement calls also on all the parties to help Bosnia develop stable and democratic institutions and help the Bosnian leaders in theirs strive for peace. The international community is based on principles of state sovereignty and non-intervention. Sovereignty can be defined as the right for autonomy and the right for non-intervention. These principles are not as important today as they were during the Cold War. Globalisation and marginalisation has made it more acceptable to intervene and share sovereignty with other states and ganisations. That means that the traditional view on sovereignty as a mean for maintaining order and view on interventions as a threat to the sovereignty is less significant in modern times. The reason for this is that the definition on sovereignty and intervention changes to able to adjust its self to the political situation in the world. That is, definition on sovereignty and interventionwill differ from time to time.

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Sur le restreint territoire de la Vallée d’Aoste, en Italie, deux modalités distinctes de pèlerinage trouvent place. Une modalité est représentée par les pèlerinages locaux, fréquentés par une communauté de dévots qui se connaissent depuis toujours, l’autre par les pèlerinages internationaux, composés de fidèles qui souvent se rencontrent pour la première fois alors qu’ils montent sur le bus qui les conduira vers le lieu saint. Parmi ces pèlerinages internationaux, un des plus fréquentés dans ces dernières années est celui qui amène les pèlerins à la rencontre de la Vierge de Medjugorje, en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Quelles sont les différences qu’on peut retrouver à l’intérieur de ces deux modalités distinctes de voyage saint ? Les participants aux pèlerinages locaux sont les mêmes qui décident d’aller à la rencontre d’une Vierge “étrangère” et non pas encore reconnue par l’Église ? Et qu’est -e que cette dévotion peut offrir de plus par rapport aux nombreux lieux de culte présents sur la région ? A travers l’instrument de l’analyse ethnographique, Nora Demarchi cherche à répondre à ces questions, en illustrant comment l’analyse du phénomène du pèlerinage religieux peut nous dire de plus sur la société plus en général. / In the narrow area of Valle d'Aosta, in Italy, two different approaches to pilgrimage can be found: one is represented by local pilgrimages, attended by a community of devout constantly in touch with each other, the other one being international pilgrimages, composed by followers who meet for the first time when they board the bus that will take them towards the holy place. Among the latter, one of the most frequented lately is the one that brings the pilgrims towards the Virgin of Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. What are the differences we can find between these two different peregrinations ? Are the members of local pilgrimages the same who decide to meet a “foreign” Virgin Mary, which has not even been yet acknowledged by the Church ? Can this second devotion offer something more than the numerous places of worship located in the region ? Through the instruments of ethnographical analysis, Nora Demarchi tries to answer those questions, illustrating how the study of the religious pilgrimage phenomena can say something more about society in a broader sense.

1 Abstract This diploma thesis' aim was to find out what are the security measures countering radicalization and extremism in Bosnia-Herzegovina and whether there is any room for improvement. Firstly, the thesis analysed several official documents related to the security of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the relevant reports of the international community, in order to review the concrete security measures and compared them with security measures, which are in effect in other European countries. This allowed the author to draw specific security recommendation for Bosnia-Herzegovina based on the best-practices from abroad. Secondly, this thesis provides the opinions of three experts on Bosnia-Herzegovina and its internal situation. The experts assessed the security situation in the country, identified the areas of security which shall be enhanced and proposed concrete measures, which could elevate the security situation in the country. This thesis's main assumption was that the security measures currently in effect are insufficient and that there is much room for improvement. The analysis of the documents showed that there are many specific security measures, in terms of fighting radicalisation of youth, online radicalisation or religious extremism, which are used abroad, that could be implemented to...

This study aims to examine Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda's tolerance and reconciliation processes after the conflicts by answering the research question 'How can we explain the similarities and differences between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Rwanda’s reconciliation processes in terms of ethnic tolerance among its inhabitants post civil war and genocide?'. An explanatory theory based on Brounéus’ perspectives and recommendations on reconciliation is used throughout the study. The main findings are that both countries have had diverse approaches and have not fulfilled the requirements for achieving ethnic tolerance and reconciliation.

What role, if any, did colonialism play in the history of Europe? To answer this question, scholars have increasingly turned to European border regions. These regions, whose ownership was disputed and often unstable, are excellent case studies for patterns of quasi-colonial rule within the confines of Europe. Historians of Austria-Hungary, especially, have argued that colonialism was by no means limited to overseas territories, but pertained also to the European continent. The occupied territories of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a border region on the fringes of the collapsing Ottoman empire, is one example. This article applies the criteria of postcolonial scholars to another European border region: Alsace-Lorraine. In its constitutional, administrative, economic and cultural status, this Franco-German borderland exhibits many characteristics of quasi-colonial rule that also applied in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But there are also important differences. In extending the question of inner-European colonialism from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Alsace-Lorraine, this article reflects on the applicability of a post-colonial perspective onto European border regions more generally. Such a perspective, it will be shown, has its merits as well as its risks. The emerging differences between quasi-colonial border regions like Bosnia-Herzegovina and Alsace-Lorraine, and overseas territories, are a testimony to the complexity and dynamism of colonialism. It is important not to preclude European border regions from postcolonial discourse on account of their geography alone.