Interethnic Peace, Security, and Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina

In the case of the Bosnian War (1992-1995), international participation has just maintained interethnic peace with limited success. Peace-keeping strategies implemented without consensus subsequently set up an environment in which ethnic cleansings transformed into genocide in UN “Safe Areas.” According to the World Bank’s (2004) reports, following the end of military conflict late 1995, of a pre-war population of 4.4 million, an estimated 250,000 people had lost their lives or were considered missing, 200,000 to 400,000 people had been wounded, and an estimated 2.5 million people, more than half the population, either left the country as refugees or were internally displaced. Despite what has happened during the turmoil, the worst happened in Srebrenica, one of UN’s Security Zones, which was protected by Dutch soldiers. It is unknown how many people lost their lives in Srebrenica. According to Human Right Watch Reports, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia was systematically planned and implemented by Serbian irregulars. This chapter illustrates the negative effects of dissolving interethnic peace in Bosnia. The case of Bosnian interethnic war is examined from the security matter to genocide.