“The time will come when those few hours will say much about War and Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the role that the United States played in the outcome, the
real importance of France, and perhaps the World Order that will reflect it”.
BERNARD-HENRY LEVY, Le Lys et la Cendre
The Dayton Accords, initialed in Dayton, Ohio on November 21, 1995, and signed in Paris on December 14 that same year by the Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, ended the worst conflict in Europe since the Second World War. After almost four years of ineffective diplomatic efforts by the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States, the Clinton administration finally decided to take the initiative and sent Richard Holbrooke the Assistant Secretary of State for Canadian and European Affairs to lead an "all out negotiating effort" to end the war in Bosnia. Holbrooke and his team mediated between the three sides the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to reverse what Holbrooke earlier had characterized as the "greatest collective failure of the West since the 1930s."
175 New York Times, December 6, 1994, p. 1.
176 Washington Post, January 28, 1995, p. 23.
It was a product of time and the circumstances in which Bosnian people find themselves in November 1995. According to many Bosnians, it is not a just peace for Bosnia and Herzegovina but, it is better then the continuation of a war. War would have destroyed Bosnia and Herzegovina, cancel her from its existence, and the only way to avoid its complete destruction was the acceptance of the Dayton Peace Agreement. According to U.S. Secretary of State, Warren Christopher after tough talks and discussions, on the morning of November 21, 1995 in Dayton, Ohio the three presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia had reached a peace agreement to end the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.177 The agreement preserved Bosnia and Herzegovina as a single state to be made up of two parts, the Bosnian Croat Federation 51 percent and the Bosnian Serb Republic 49 percent, with a resolution of the territorial disputes over which the war was begun. Sarajevo would remain undivided capital city. The national government would have responsibility for foreign affairs, trade, immigration, citizenship, and monetary policy. Each of the federations would have its own police force.
Refugees would be able to return home, and free movement throughout the country would be guaranteed. There would be international supervision of human rights and police training, and those charged with war crimes would be excluded from political life. A strong international force, commanded by NATO, would supervise the separation of forces and keep the peace as the agreement was being implemented.
The Bosnian peace plan was hard-won and its particulars contained bitter pills for both sides, but it would bring an end to four bloody years that claimed more than 250,000 lives and caused more than two million people to flee their homes. American leadership was decisive in pushing NATO to be more aggressive and in taking the final diplomatic initiative. These efforts were immeasurably helped by the Croatian and Bosnian military gains on the ground, and the brave and stubborn refusal of Izetbegovic and Silajdzic, and their comrades to give up in the face of Bosnian Serb aggression.
The final agreement was a tribute to the skills of Dick Holbrooke and his negotiating team; to Warren Christopher, who at critical points was decisive in keeping the Bosnians on a board and in closing the deal; to Tony Lake, who initially conceived and
177 Bill Clinton. My life. New York: Random House, 2004. p. 685.
sold the American peace initiative to their allies and who, with Holbrooke, pushed for the final talks to be held in the United States; to Sandy Berger, who chaired the deputies’ committee meetings, which kept people throughout the national security operation informed of what was going on without allowing too much interference;
and to Madeleine Albright, who strongly supported American aggressive posture in the United Nations. The choice of Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was inspired, and the carefully chosen by the negotiating team; it was in the Unites States, but far enough away from Washington to discourage leaks, and the facilities permitted the kind of “proximity talks” that allowed Holbrooke and his team to hammer out the tough details. The role of the United States of America to end the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was crucial in succeeding the peace negotiation talks between three parties in conflict. In the words of Bill Clinton:
“On November 22, after twenty-one days of isolation in Dayton, Holbrooke and his team came to the White House to receive my congratulations and discuss our next steps.”178
The best in the Dayton Agreement is Article I of the Dayton Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina saying: “Bosnia and Herzegovina shall continue its legal existence as an internationally recognized state under name of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with all the rights of a state, and within its internationally recognized borders”.179 This is a key provision and the first and the most important article of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. of Annex IV of the Dayton Agreement. The greatest deficiency of the Dayton is possibility of blockade of institutions, and that is very much present currently. The common institutions through which the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Muslim-Croat Federation and Serb Republic) exercises its functions are inefficient and they are not pretty well organised within itself.
This advantage and deficiency of the Agreement are waging a silent war, and destiny of Bosnia and Herzegovina depends on the outcome of the silent but dangerous war.
In the words of president Izetbegovic, Bosnian Government could not do more for its people:
178 Bill Clinton. My life. New York: Random House, 2004. pp. 685-6.
179 Alija Izetbegovic. RAT I MIR U BOSNI I HERCEGOVINI. Vijece Kongresa bosnjackih intelektualaca. Sarajevo, Maj 1998. p. 43.
“This is not a just peace, however it is more just then continuation of the war. In situation such as it is, in the world such as it is, a better peace could have not been reached. God is our witness that we did all in our power to make injustice for our country and our people as little as possible.”180
There are many intellectuals within the country and in abroad, the western politicians and diplomats who share this view of Mr. Izetbegovic. On the other hand, there are those who criticize him for the acceptance of Dayton Peace Agreement. According to president Izetbegovic it is a favourable agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina:
“The Dayton document is an expression of times and circumstances in which we lived then, and if it is consistently implemented it will be a favourable agreement.”181 Besides all problems that we do have in Bosnia and Herzegovina, his conclusion was an optimistic one: “We have the best children in the world; we have the best soldiers in the world. The generation about which I speak is being born and is growing up at the end of the 20th century, both during and after the terrible war.
These children have gone through hell; they have been acquainted with hunger and death, which they stared in the eye. These children are our major trunk-card for the future; we must take care of them.182