Fears That Bosnia May Again Erupt In War

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Thirteen years after the United States brokered the Dayton peace agreement to end the ferocious ethnic war in the former Yugoslavia, fears are mounting that Bosnia, poor and divided, is again teetering toward crisis.

On the surface, this haunted capital, its ancient mosques and Orthodox churches still pocked by mortar fire, appears to be enjoying a renaissance. Young professionals throng to stylish cafes and gleaming new shopping malls while the muezzin heralds the morning prayer. The ghosts of Srebrenica linger -- recalling the worst massacre in Europe since World War II -- but Sarajevans prefer to talk about President-elect Barack Obama or the global financial crisis.

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Comments

[loki]

not a huge surprise. I know there is a large population here in the Midwest. Larger cities like Chicago, KC, St. Louis, Indianapolis and so on. Its pretty well known that the so called Bosnian Mafia that runs the large all inclusive communities in these cities are funneling money and weapons back to the homeland. Theres been stories on it. Just the feds and the police wont do anything. I guess they are getting a pay off or something.

[MilwaukeeDan]

If the West wanted to desolve Yugoslavia, then they should have let them devide among ethnic lines, not some ancient republic borders, people have relocated over the centuries. Bosnia, as a country, never existed. Kosovo/a as a country, never existed, Montenegro? please. This nightmare creation is the west's fault, designed to perpetuate war and poverty.

[sposton]

There will not be another war in Bosnia. For a war to happen you would need neighboring countries to support their allies within Bosnia. Neither Croatia nor Serbia will do that, therefore a war is impossible. Ethnic tension will remain in Bosnia for generations but that does not mean war.

[tinamou]

Interesting article. I particularly enjoyed how it was inflammatory, misleading and alarmist at the beginning and then towards the end threw in a little balance and perspective. Tensions along ethnic lines within Bosnian politics does not make for a prelude to war. There is nothing like feeding Western ignorance about the Balkans through carefully crafted presentation and making much out of predictions about what could happen in the entire 'realm of possibility'. And of course the Bosnian people do not want war, the Bosnian people want Europe. Most more credible analyses are predicting that the signing of the SAA back in June is an extremely positive signal for the future of Bosnia, despite what the Dayton Agreement has done to the country. This is ridiculous, lacks a deep and careful understanding of the situation and as is typical of the Huffington Post, the headline is provocative beyond the actual, full content of the article.