Bosnia: A work in progress

Travels with David: Asia, Africa and The Balkans

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnia was torn apart by ethnic conflict, a three-way war between Serbs (mostly Eastern Orthodox), Croats (Roman Catholic) and Muslim Bosniaks. It was not until the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men at Srebrenica and TV coverage of the siege of Sarajevo horrified the world that NATO stepped in, bombed Bosnian Serb positions, and forced their leadership to the negotiating table. Because many were driven from their homes in mixed communities, the Dayton Accord created two Bosnias—the Serb-majority north and east (Republika Srpska) and the central and southern regions, with a Bosniak majority and Croat minority (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina).

The chair of the country’s presidency rotates between the three ethnic groups. The currency uses both the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets, and bills feature the figureheads of both Bosniaks and Serbs. Depending on where you are, the name of a town or village on a roadside sign is first in Roman or Cyrillic. License plates use only letters that are in both alphabets.

Such well-intentioned changes are largely symbolic because the past looms large. A bloody civil war still lives in the memories of almost everyone over the age of 30. Communities that were once ethnically mixed are now dominated by one group. Two governments compete for power and resources. As a country, Bosnia is very much a work-in-progress.