Volu m e I - Purdue University Calumet

of the reconstruction of Bosnia. In addition, the Accords outlined a complete constitution for the country.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) was created to oversee the civilian implementation of the
Accords. The United States provides a significant level of funding and personnel for the Office of the High
Representative, however the High Representative has always been European. The High Representative
reports to the Peace Implementation Council comprised of the countries which led the international efforts at
brokering a peace. At the time of the implementation of Dayton, the prevailing public attitude regarding the
Treaty was favorable among both Americans and Bosnians. Internally, the Clinton administration knew that
the treaty had flaws and was agreed upon by the slimmest of margins by the representative parties - The
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The
United States made compromises in an effort to appease the parties which actually had detrimental effects for
the overall process. Chief among these was the United States' concession which allowed the Serb entity's
name to remain the Republika of Srpska. For Bosniaks and Croats, this name was and still is associated with
ethnic cleansing and war crimes. On the other hand, this name sparks nationalist sentiment from Serbs and
continues to be a source of great pride for them. While symbolically important, it is likely that nationalist
sentiment would be strong even without the name.
Dayton set a lofty goal – simultaneously impose a peace and create a stable inter-ethnic
democratic society. Carl Bildt, the first High Representative, said this regarding the Accords:
The peace agreement for Bosnia is the most ambitious document of its kind in modern history,
perhaps in history as a whole. A traditional peace treaty aims at ending a war between nations and
coalitions of nations, while here it is a question of setting up a state on the basis of little more than the
ruins and rivalries of a bitter war. There are often calls for a revision of the peace agreement, either to
break up Bosnia further or to pave the way for a more unitary state. Neither is realistic, and both are
irresponsible in view of the fear that would be unleashed by any attempt to remake the peace, in
effect opening up all the questions of the war. The peace agreement balances the reality of divisions
with the structure of cooperation and integration, and is based on the opinion that over time the
imperative of integration in the country and the region will be the dominant factor (Bose 1)
Bildt took the long view with regard to the future of Bosnia. His early statement is supported by the fact that
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