DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

co mmu ni ty did not wa nt to ta ke acti ons that wo uld pro -
vo ke the Se rb au tho ri ti es, or inde ed other ele me nts. 6
Ne ve rthe less, a nu mber of fa cto rs mi li ta ted in the fo -
llo wi ng ye ars in fa vo ur of a mo re inte rve nti oni st po li cy
on the pa rt of the inte rna ti onal co mmu ni ty vis-à-vis Bo -
snia-He rze go vi na ’s re co nstru cti on.
Fi rstly, the Da yton se ttle me nt was the chi ld of a We -
ste rn po li cy that was alre ady di scre di ted and in a pro -
cess of tra nsfo rma ti on at the ti me that the se ttle me nt
was re ached. The re pla ce me nt of Fra nco is Mi tte ra nd
wi th Ja cqu es Chi rac as Fre nch pre si de nt in 1995 and
of Jo hn Ma jor wi th To ny Bla ir as Bri ti sh pri me mi ni ster
in 1997 me ant that Fre nch and Bri ti sh po li cy was no
lo nger in the ha nds of po li ti ci ans who had stro ngly fa -
vo ured appe ase me nt of the Se rbs, but ra ther of the ir
su cce sso rs who had se en the fu ti li ty of the po li cy of
appe ase me nt and we re de te rmi ned not to su ffer si mi -
lar di scre di ti ng. Ju st as the Ma jor and Mi tte ra nd re gi -
mes had de te rred Cli nton from stro nger inte rve nti on
to ha lt Se rb atro ci ti es, so Bla ir and Chi rac sti ffe ned Cli -
nto n’s de te rmi na ti on to co nfro nt Se rbi an tro uble ma -
ki ng. When Mi lo {e vi } atte mpted to la unch a new
ca mpa ign of ethnic cle ansi ng, aga inst the Ko so vo Alba -
ni ans in the la te 1990s, the NA TO po we rs this ti me co -
nfro nted him. The po li cy of We ste rn appe ase me nt of
Mi lo {e vi } – one of the pi lla rs of the Da yton Acco rd –
de fi ni te ly ca me to an end wi th the NA TO ai rstri kes
aga inst Se rbia in 1999, the indi ctme nt of Mi lo {e vi } by
the Ha gue Tri bu nal and US assi sta nce to the ove rthrow
of Mi lo {e vi } in 2000. 7 So the re was a wi der ge opo li ti -
cal co nte xt to the gra du ally mo re ha nds-on appro ach
of the inte rna ti onal admi ni stra ti on in Bo snia-He rze go -
vi na after 1995.
Se co ndly, the re was an inte rnal dyna mic wi thin the
inte rna ti onal admi ni stra ti on to wa rds a mo re acti vi st appro
ach. The gu ardi anship of Bo snia-He rze go vi na was
pla ced in the ha nds of the Pe ace Imple me nta ti on Co -
uncil (PIC), co mpo sed of UN me mbe rs and inte rna ti -
onal bo di es. The PIC in tu rn admi ni ste red
Bo snia-He rze go vi na thro ugh the Offi ce of the Hi gh Re -
pre se nta ti ve (OHR). Altho ugh the Hi gh Re pre se nta ti -
ve was envi sa ged abo ve all as an ove rse er fa ci li ta ti ng
the re co ve ry of Bo snia-He rze go vi na, in pra cti ce, the
impe ra ti ve of ensu ri ng sta bi li ty and pe ace gra du ally pu -
lled the OHR into a mo re inte rve nti oni st ro le. The
OHR gra du ally put do wn ro ots in the co untry and ga -
ined a re al grip on it, cre ati ng a se lf-pe rpe tu ati ng insti -
tu ti onal dyna mic to wa rd a stro nger admi ni stra ti on. In
1997, the PIC gra nted the OHR the so-ca lled "Bo nn Po -
we rs", allo wi ng the Hi gh Re pre se nta ti ve to di smiss re -
ca lci tra nt offi ci als who obstru cted its wo rk.
Co nse qu ently, two ye ars la ter, in 1999, Hi gh Re pre se -
nta ti ve Ca rlos We ste ndo rp used the Bo nn Po we rs to
di smiss the extre me-na ti ona li st RS pre si de nt, Ni ko la
Po pla {en. Two ye ars after that, his su cce ssor, Wo lfga -
ng Pe tri tsch, di smi ssed the ha rd-li ne Cro at na ti ona li st
Ante Je la vi } from the Bo sni an Pre si de ncy and se ized
the asse ts of the Cro at De mo cra tic Uni on (HDZ), the
pri nci pal Bo sni an Cro at na ti ona li st pa rty. 8 Thus, for ne -
arly a de ca de from 1997, the OHR to ok on an incre -
asi ngly stro ng ro le, chi ppi ng away from abo ve at the
na ti onal di vi si ons and the po wer ba ses of the na ti ona -
li st po li ti ci ans.
This stre ngthe ni ng ro le of the OHR to ok on its gre -
ate st exte nt under Pa ddy Ashdo wn, who se rved as Hi -
gh Re pre se nta ti ve from 2002 to 2006. Ashdo wn
se rved in an inte rna ti onal atmo sphe re of ra pid EU and
NA TO expa nsi oni sm and a ge ne ra lly gre ater We ste rn
mi li ta ncy fo llo wi ng the 9/11 atta cks and the run-up to,
and ou tbre ak of, the war in Iraq. In re spo nse to Bo -
sni an Se rb arms tra di ng wi th Sa dda m’s Iraq, Ashdo wn
abo li shed the RS’s Su pre me De fe nce Co uncil and re -
mo ved all re fe re nces to sta te ho od in the RS’s co nsti -
tu ti on. He then esta bli shed a uni fi ed Bo sni an mi li ta ry
co mma nd and inte lli ge nce se rvi ce. In 2000, inte rna ti -
onal me di ato rs ru led that the di spu ted to wn of Br~ko,
which si ts astri de the so-ca lled "no rthe rn co rri do r" li -
nki ng the ea ste rn and we ste rn pa rts of the RS, sho uld
be co me a ne utral di stri ct se pa ra te from bo th enti ti es,
ma ki ng an eve ntu al se ce ssi on of the RS that much mo -
re pro ble ma tic. La ter that ye ar, the Co nsti tu ti onal Co -
urt of Bo snia-He rze go vi na ru led that all three of
Bo snia-He rze go vi na ’s co nsti tu ent pe ople sho uld enjoy
co nsti tu ent sta tus across its who le te rri to ry, stri ki ng a
blow aga inst the na ti onal di vi si ons entre nched by Da -
yton. In 2003, le gi sla ti on was ado pted that ena bled the
enti ti es’ se pa ra te cu sto ms admi ni stra ti ons to be re pla -
ced by a sta te Indi re ct Ta xa ti on Au tho ri ty. In 2004,
Ashdo wn issu ed a de cree for the re uni fi ca ti on of the
ci ty of Mo star. Also in 2004, the Co nsti tu ti onal Co urt
of Bo snia-He rze go vi na ru led that thi rte en to wns and
mu ni ci pa li ti es in the RS, that had be en gi ven new Se -
rb na mes or pre fi xes si nce 1992, sho uld ha ve the ir ori -
gi nal, non-na ti onal na mes re sto red. In Octo ber 2005,
the RS pa rli ame nt was fi na lly pre ssu ri sed into pa ssi ng
an EU-de ma nded re fo rm ai med at cre ati ng a uni fi ed
Bo sni an po li ce fo rce. 9
This incre asi ng acti vi sm on the pa rt of the OHR se nt
the ha rd-li ne na ti ona li sts into re tre at. It cre ated a di le -
mma for na ti ona li st po li ti ci ans, be twe en re ca lci tra nt
oppo si ti on and co lla bo ra ti ng wi th the inte rna ti onal admi
ni stra ti on. This led to the fra gme nta ti on of fo rme -
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