A Liberal Peace? The Dayton Agreement and
Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina 25 years later
Bachelor Thesis in Peace and Development Studies
Author: Amina Elezovic Supervisor: Manuela Nilsson Examiner: Susanne Alldén Term: HT20
Subject: Peace and Development Level: Bachelor
Course code: 2FU33E
Abstract
Over time, hundreds of peace agreements have been signed in different parts of the world. Most of those peace agreements have not brought sustainable peace. Studies show that only 50% of the peace agreements survive for 5 years.
After undergoing civil war between the ethnic groups, Bosnia and Herzegovina ended the bloodiest conflict in European history since the second world war with a peace agreement with the official name The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also called the Dayton Peace Agreement. The main purpose of the Dayton Agreement was to bring peace and stability between the ethnic groups. Stability and peace would later democratize the country and bring it closer to the Western standards. 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Agreement. The Dayton peace agreement constitutes a big portion of the Bosnian constitution, outlining the structure of the new government and the division of power between the three ethnic groups in the country. Using the democratic pillar of the Liberal Peace concept as an analytical framework, this research investigates the impact of the Dayton peace agreement on the democratization process in Bosnia and Herzegovina and determines whether Liberal Peace has after all been achieved in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 25 years after the signing of the peace agreement.
The study is conducted as a qualitative case study. The findings present that the Dayton agreement has been based on the liberal peace principles. The latest development in BiH show that the country has moved beyond the Dayton peace agreement to the European integration and European Union membership. The liberal peacebuilding has therefore taken another shift and the country’s main focus nowadays relies on resolving the needed reforms that will bring the country closer to the EU. The impact of the Dayton peace agreement is still present within the political sphere in the country, where many of the obstacles to becoming a European Union member state are caused by the Dayton agreement. There is thus high interest by the political elite in the country to move beyond what has happened 25-years ago and focus on the future of the country.
Key words
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dayton Peace Agreement, Liberal Peace, Democratization, Rule of Law, Human Rights
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank everyone who inspired me and encouraged me over the years. Special thanks to my tutor and mentor, Manuela Nilsson. Manuela always inspired and encouraged me to do better and improve, providing me with comments and tips that helped me conduct this research paper. Big thanks to the whole Peace and Development department at Linnaeus University in Växjö for giving us the education on the topics we are most interested in.
I would also like to thank my closest friends, my partner and my parents.
You endlessly supported me and encouraged me during my whole study-time
and other adventures I was enrolled in.
List of Appendices
BIH- Bosnia and Herzegovina EU- European Union
OSCE- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe RS- Serb Republic
HNS- Hrvatski Narodni Sabor (Croatian People Assembly) ECH- European Court for Human Rights
OECD- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development GDP- Gross Domestic Product
LGBTQ- Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer UN- United Nations
RSF- Reporters Without Borders
NATO- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization US- United States
Table of contents
Abstract ... 2
List of Appendices ... 4
1 Introduction ... 6
1.1 Research Problem and Relevance ... 7
1.2 Objective and Research Question ... 9
1.3 Analytical Framework ... 10
1.4 Methodological Framework ... 10
1.5 Limitation and Delimitation ... 11
1.6 Disposition ... 12
2 Previous Research ... 13
3 Analytical Framework ... 15
3.1 Liberal Peace ... 16
3.2 The debate on Liberal Peace ... 19
4 Methodological Framework ... 21
4.1 Qualitative Text Analysis ... 21
4.2 Case Study ... 22
4.3 Discussion of sources ... 23
4.4 Limitations and Delimitations ... 24
5 Background ... 24
6 Findings ... 25
6.1 The Dayton Agreement ... 25
6.1.1 Agreement 3: Election ... 26
6.1.2 Agreement 4: Constitution ... 27
6.1.3 Agreement 10; Civilian Implementation ... 28
6.1.4 Agreement 6; Human Rights ... 29
6.2 Debate on the Dayton Peace Agreement 1995-2011 ... 29
6.3 Steps towards democratization, rule of law and human rights 2011-2020 32 6.3.1 Democratization ... 32
6.3.2 Rule of Law and Human Rights ... 38
6.4 Bosnia and Herzegovina today ... 44
7 Analysis ... 47
8 Conclusion ... 51
References ... 54
1 Introduction
There have been many peace agreements signed over history and most of them have collapsed. A peace agreement means that parties who have been in a conflict with each-other sign a document promising to pursue peace between each other and in their countries (Badran 2014). Some peace agreements are more successful than others, which collapse within months.
Bekoe (2003) writes that studies have shown that only 50% of peace agreements survive 5 years.
The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s gave the United Nations the opportunity to engage in the violent conflicts going on around the world, but this time the engagement was merely to negotiate peace settlements rather than military interventions (Jarstad et.al 2015). Richmond (2009) argues that the majority of the peace agreements created during 1990s have been a product of the Liberal Peace concept that emerged during the same period (Richmond 2009:1). The concept of Liberal Peace has been discussed by Richmond who argues that Liberal Peace brings a peace that replicates the fundamental liberal pillars that can be founded within the Western states and agencies (Richmond 2014:1).
Jarstad’s et.al study on peace agreements signed in the 1990s though shows that many of the peace agreements that have been signed over the 1990s have, instead of bringing unity between the people brought diversity (Jarstad et al 2015). This is a very interesting finding, particularly for the topic of this research paper.
One of the countries that signed a peace agreement in the 1990s is Bosnia
and Herzegovina. The civil war between the ethnic groups in Bosnia and
Herzegovina ended in 1995 by the signing of the so-called, Dayton Peace
Agreement. Holbrooke et.al writes, "There have been over 30 ceasefire
agreements in Bosnia prior the Dayton Peace Accords. All of them collapsed" (Holbrooke, Chollet 2007:xi).
As Perry argues, the Dayton Agreement is seen as the "best-viewed product of its time" (Perry, 2019). The peace agreement, named after the city in the United States where the negotiations took place, was signed by all three parties, the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, on the 14th of December 1995. It aimed to foremost end the violent conflict between the parties by securing that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be shared in proportion by all three ethnicities, without any discrimination or uneven political power over each other (Jesús Alcalá 2005:13, The Dayton Agreement 1995).
The agreement can be seen as a guideline for the country on how to pursue life and governance after the violent conflict that just ended in the country.
The previously mentioned arguments on peace agreements, especially the Dayton peace agreement, has contributed to a new debate that questions whether peace agreements are the best way to go in ending a conflict and allowing the country to develop according to the Liberal peace principles.
Since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement emerged a new era of politics within the country, it is an interesting topic to study for the coming peace agreements being created around the world.
1.1 Research Problem and Relevance
As mentioned previously, the concept of Liberal Peace, developed by Oliver P Richmond in 2009, can be seen as the predominant international concept for peacebuilding during the 1990s (Richmond 2009:3-4). Therefore, it is important to study what impact the concept of Liberal Peace, which has been the inspiration for the development of the Dayton Peace Agreement, has actually had on the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The debate on whether the Dayton peace agreement was a success or not is
not very conclusive. Some argue that the Dayton Agreement is the best peace
agreement that could have happened in BiH (ex. Holbrooke, Chollet 2007;
xiii) and others maintain that the agreement indeed helped the country to end the violence between the ethnicities but has also "frozen" the country as a whole (ex. Perry 2019). Perry (2019) argues that the complexity of power- sharing and governance-sharing between three different ethnic groups can indeed be seen as a challenge for a country and has therefore prohibited the country to move towards positive development and change.
The criticisms on the concept of liberal peace have been rising over the years and there even exists a debate concerning the success of the peace
agreements created with the inspiration of the Liberal Peace, especially the presented Dayton agreement (see chapter 3). Since there is such high and engaging debate regarding the peace agreements created in inspiration of the Liberal peace concept, it is important to conduct a research that investigates whether Dayton peace agreement can be seen as a successful product of liberal peacebuilding or if the liberal peacebuilding failed in BiH too.
Oliver Richmond is one of the few scholars within the academia who has discussed the Dayton agreement and the failure that can be found within it.
Richmond (2009; 2011) acknowledges the failure of the Dayton peace agreement and the liberal peace concept in the country. In his 2009 publication he discusses the problems the country is facing regarding the liberalization of the country’s political system and in his book published in 2011 Richmond discusses the lack of engagement of civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The last in-depth study on the liberal peace impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina has been done by Richmond in 2009, where the main conclusion was that the liberal peace has failed the country.
There is indeed available research on the impact of Dayton peace agreement
on BiH. The author thus argues that it is important to study the last decade of
the development in the country, continuing Richmond’s work from 2009 and
2011. It is important to focus on the latest 10-years of the development in the
country, since the real impact of sustainable peace needs to be looked at beyond the first ten post-accord years to be able to understand the long-term impact of peace agreements and the structures those peace agreements have imposed.
Going beyond the ordinary studies on peace agreements, who often follow the first few years of the development in the country, strengthens this research. As mentioned previously, the author argues the importance on focusing what long-term impact a peace agreement has on a country. In this case, the author wants to see how a peace agreement, signed 25-years ago, has changed the country and in what direction the development has gone.
The fact that a peace agreement has survived for 25-years is also highly relevant to this research, and the author argues that it is important to study how the concept of liberal peace can survive beyond the first decade.
The fact that there are hundreds of conflicts still emerging around the world, that will someday end with a peace agreement is highly relevant to this research. As mentioned previously many of the peace agreements have failed and therefore it is important to present and study a peace agreement that has survived for 25-years for the sake of future creations of peace agreements.
The author aims to establish a research paper which can be used for the future studies on Western-created peace agreement such as the Dayton peace agreement. This study is aimed at scholars and students who want more specific knowledge on the peace agreement phenomenon, focusing on the development in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the effect of the Dayton peace agreement on the country.
1.2 Objective and Research Question
With the previously discussed arguments, the author argues the importance
of studying the Dayton Agreement, from a Liberal Peace perspective, and its
actual impact on the development within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last
decade 2010-2020. The aim of this research is to investigate if a Liberal peace created peace agreement brings democratization and development to the country. This paper aims to study how the Dayton peace agreement has affected the democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to determine whether the Liberal Peace concept has been successful. Therefore, the research questions for this paper are as following:
1. What kind of democratization, rule of law and human rights development has been achieved in Bosnia and Herzegovina until 2020?
2. In what way has the political development in Bosnia and Herzegovina followed a liberal peace framework?
The first question will be answered mostly in the findings chapter and the second question will be answered in the analysis chapter.
1.3 Analytical Framework
For this research paper, the author will be using the theoretical perspective of liberal peace to determine the results and answer the research questions. The approach to the theories will be abductive, meaning the theories will mainly be used as a lens to look at the topic.
1.4 Methodological Framework
This research topic is a qualitative case study. The research is qualitative, due to the extensive literature available to use. The author has therefore even chosen to use text analysis and the case study method to determine the results of the paper. The texts that will be used for this research and analysis are previous research done by other scholars and yearly reports from
organizations.
1.5 Limitation and Delimitation
The Dayton peace agreement, which is the main concern of this research, has been structured and developed by highly Western influence. The author sees this influence by the West as a possible limitation on the research, since many articles and previous research can be "west-angled". Another limitation is the highly polarized view on the Dayton agreement, depending on which part of the world and Bosnia itself one is coming from. Therefore, the author of this research has carefully chosen the articles and previous research to be able to create an objective picture of the problem as possible. The author has chosen to extend and include other researchers' opinions and conclusions on the topic.
Another limitation is the author’s own background. The author of this research is born and raised in the post-war BiH and therefore becomes a limitation to this research. The author is thus aware of the sensitivity and will remain as objective as possible throughout this research.
Due to the author's knowledge of the local language in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the usage of Bosnian research material on this particular case will be important and an important view. The broader picture of the research problem will be very helpful for determining the results therefore this can be seen as a delimitation in this particular research.
The delimitation in this research is that the author has decided to use is a
particular timeframe for the research. Since the last research on this topic has
been done in 2011, the author has decided to use the timeframe of the last
decade and see if the post-liberal peace has, after all, been successful in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author argues that possible improvements are
within the political sphere in the country, such as elections and the arising
strive towards democratization, that could have contributed to a positive
development of BiH. Since the election in the country is highly influenced by
the discussion on the Dayton agreement and the future liberalization of the
country, the author finds these events interesting and needed to be included in the research.
1.6 Disposition
The disposition of this research will be as following. The thesis is divided into 8 chapters excluding the reference list.
Chapter 2 is explaining the previous research done on the chosen topic, which will be facilitated for the purpose of this research.
Chapter 3, the Analytical Framework chapter will be discussing the chosen theory on Liberal Peace developed by Oliver P Richmond where the concept as a whole and the main arguments will be discussed.
Chapter 4 the methodological framework will be presented. In the methodological chapter the author will present the chosen method of qualitative desk and case study with the combination of text analysis.
Chapter 5 will present the deeper background of the topic, the Dayton peace agreement, its implementation and its creation.
Chapter 6 will be presenting the broad findings the author has done for the purpose of this research. The findings will be presenting the important changes withing the country due to the Dayton agreement, new political implementations and the democratization the country has achieved during the years.
Chapter 7 will be analyzing the findings with the combination of the chosen method and theories, for it to later be able to answer the set research
questions.
Chapter 8 is the conclusion of the whole research. What has the author learnt
about the set research topic and problem and what is the conclusion of the
whole work?! Chapter 8 will also contain possible recommendations for the future research.
2 Previous Research
The literature on peace agreements and the concept of Liberal Peace has been developed over the years. There is also extended literature on the impact of the Dayton peace agreement on different areas within Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The author in this paper will focus on using research that both criticizes and empowers the Dayton Peace Agreement and the Liberal Peace concept, including the arguments on the survival and functionality of the two.
Richard Holbrooke, who was a US diplomat and a member of the peace negotiation process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, presents how President Clinton and the US government helped Bosnia and Herzegovina to end the violent conflict by creating the Dayton Agreement. In Holbrooke's opinion, the Dayton agreement was probably the best outcome for post-war BiH (Holbrooke, Chollet 2007; xiii). Holbrooke's book provides us with a very interesting positive perspective on how the Dayton agreement has been created, Dayton's success, and the role the US and the West had on the peace process. Holbrooke argues that many of the peace agreements have only survived in the history books, but the Dayton agreement survived in the real world too.
There is an extended amount of material on criticism of the Dayton peace
agreement. The recently published article by Valery Perry "Frozen, stalled,
stuck, or just muddling through: The post-Dayton frozen conflict in Bosnia
and Herzegovina" (2019) discusses the failure to implement the Dayton
agreement into the political and civil sphere. Perry (2019) argues that the
Dayton Agreement indeed managed to end the violent conflict but has failed
to provide a sustainable governance-culture in the country. Perry (2019)
discusses the problems of power-sharing, ethnic quotas, and veto options that have been created by the Dayton agreement. Similar arguments can be founded in a report by Lívia Benková (2016) where she writes that 20 years after signing the Dayton agreement the conflict indeed has ended, but Bosnia and Herzegovina are still strongly divided by ethnicities.
A discussion on the future and direct effect of the Dayton Agreement on the politics and governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been developed in an article by Korkut and Mulalic (2012) discussing the implications of the Dayton agreement on the governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the effects it has determining the future of the country and the way towards Western-Liberal principles and future membership in organizations such as EU and NATO. This article in particular is very interesting for the author of this research since the aim of the research is to study how the Dayton agreement affected democratization and liberalization of the country.
There is extended material available from Freedom House, which conducts yearly reports on freedom in the country. The data available from Freedom House will help the author get a broader picture of the development that has been done in BiH over the years and to determine which areas have
developed most.
Since there have many cases of discrimination due to the Dayton agreement,
such as Sejdic-Finci the literature on human rights violations is highly
developed. Marko Milanovic, David Bederman, and Gro Nystuen (2005)
emphasize the loopholes that the Dayton agreement has created by a clear
ethnic division of power and rights in the country. Milanovic and Bederman
(2010) did an in-depth study on the Sejdic-Finci case, where Nystuen (2005)
focuses on overall ethnical discrimination that has been put forward by the
Dayton peace agreement. Their perspective is interesting to include since
human rights are an important part of liberal peacebuilding and the
democratization it promotes.
The impact of the Dayton Peace agreement within the framework of the liberal peace concept has been discussed by Richmond in publications in both 2009 and 2011, where he mentions the failing areas of the Dayton peace agreement that later affected the functionality and development of BiH.
Richmond's main argument is that the Dayton agreement and the liberal peace has failed local civil society and complicated the overall development of the country. More specific findings by Richmond are presented in the findings chapter. This is an interesting finding, which will help the author evolve Richmond's argument and continue the work Richmond has begun.
In the presented material on previous research, the author shows that there is an extensive amount of literature about peace agreements and in particular the Dayton peace agreement. The presented literature discusses different parts of the Dayton agreement's impact on different areas, but there is not clear research done on the impact the liberal peace has had on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past decade, 2010 till 2020. The presented literature also shows the lack of research done on the impact the liberal peace has had on the political development in the country and whether the liberal peace has been successful in Bosnia and Herzegovina 25 years after the signing of the Dayton peace agreement. The presented discussion, especially by Richmond who did a more in-depth study on the liberal peace impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first decade of the peace agreement, is an interesting starting point for this particular research and provides the author with a base.
It is interesting to continue the discussion on the topic and conduct in-depth research on the impact of the liberal peacebuilding on BiH and the
development that can be noted during the period.
3 Analytical Framework
This chapter introduces the theoretical perspective chosen for this study. The
approach to the research topic is abductive. When conceptualizing the
abductive reasoning, Danermark et.al uses Pierce's work as a base for explaining abduction (Danermark et al 2002;90). According to Pierce's argument, the abduction is built up as following "that we (1) have an
empirical event/phenomenon (the result), which we (2) relate to a rule, which (3) leads us to a new supposition about the event/phenomenon" (Danermark et al 2002;90). Danermark et al thus argue that the abductive reasoning differs in the social science research, where he argues that "the rule is most often a frame of interpretation or a theory, and the conclusion (the case) is a new interpretation of a concrete phenomenon" (Danermark et al 2002;90).
Danermark argues that using a theory within a case will provide us with new knowledge on the set case. The logic of abduction can be further explained using Bryman argument, which explains abduction as "A theoretical understanding of the contexts" (Bryman, 2019:401). In this particular case, the concept of Liberal Peace developed by Richmond will be used as a theoretical aspect through which the author will examine the contexts of events that have happened in BiH after the signing of the Dayton agreement.
examine the research topic and the chosen case.
3.1 Liberal Peace
Oliver P Richmond is a known scholar for his much-appreciated work on the concept of Liberal Peace and its impact on countries around the world.
Richmond wrote a book in 2009 on the liberal peace concept called "Liberal peace transitions: between state-building and peacebuilding". In 2011 Richmond developed a follow-up book called "Post-Liberal Peace" in which he analyses and critiques the concept of liberal peace and what it has
accomplished during history.
According to the concept of liberal peace, developed by Oliver P Richmond
liberal peace is built in a country by the Western-influenced international
organizations, NGOs, donors, actors, and agencies (Richmond 2009;1). The
peace is built by influencing and assisting the political, social, and economic
environments in a conflict-affected country. The purpose of this influence is, according to Richmond to unite the world built by a "hegemonic system that replicates liberal institutions, norms, and political, social, and economic systems" (Richmond 2011;1). By creating liberal peace around the world, the West is not only promoting the liberal norms but also strengthening the relationship between the countries in the world by uniting them with an ideology. Richmond further calls the liberal peace as a "One-size-fits-all paradigm" since the liberal peace concept has been used by the international organizations in the West to establish peace in conflict countries since Cold War (Richmond 2009:2-3).
Richmond (2009) argues that within the liberal peace framework four main strands have evolved, which are; victor's peace, institutional peace,
constitutional peace, and civil peace (Richmond 2009;5). Richmond explains the mentioned peace strands as following
The victor’s peace has evolved from the ancient argument…that a peace which rests on a military victory and upon the hegemony or domination of that victor is more likely to survive. The institutional peace… attempts to anchor states within a normative and legal context in which states multilaterally agree how to behave, on international norms and inter-national institutions, and how to enforce or determine their behavior. The constitutional peace…that peace rests upon democracy, trade and a set of cosmopolitan values that stem from the notion that individuals are ends in themselves, rather than means to an end. Finally, the civil peace is derived from the phenomena of direct action, citizen advocacy and mobilization (often transnationally) in the attainment or defense of basic human rights and values, often for reasons of social justice and human emancipation (Richmond 2009;5).
The one thing in common in all of the mentioned strands of peace is that they
all empathize and strive towards the core liberal components; freedom and
mutual regulations, therefore they all create a base for the liberal peace
framework (Richmond 2009;5). Richmond also argues that the "fine balance
between these broad aspirations in the context of state sovereignty produces the liberal peace" (Richmond 2009;5).
The main components of the liberal peace concept are "Democratization, rule of law, human rights, free and globalized market, and neoliberal
development" (Richmond 2009:4). Therefore, we can argue that the liberal peace concept is built on two pillars; democracy, rule of law, and human rights as the first pillar, and the globalized market and neoliberal
development as the second pillar (Richmond 2009;5). The goal of these two pillars is according to Richmond to "focus on better integration of, and efficacy in these areas..." (Richmond 2009;4).
Democracy is according to Richmond, power within people, and their ability to change the society they are living in (Richmond, 2009;5). Rule of law and human rights are connected with each-other and Richmond argues that they are derived from the mobilization of the people to protect the human rights to later contribute to social justice and human emancipation (Richmond,
2009;5). Richmond argues that these components create the core of the liberal peace which is according to him "aspiration for freedom and mutual regulation" (Richmond, 2009;5).
Richmond argues that liberal peace is projected to reform the governance in the conflict-affected country, which makes the concept of liberal peace dependent on viability and united trust from recipient parties towards the agencies providing the peace assistance (Richmond 2009;4). This makes the concept of liberal peace dependent on the assistance and economical
donations of the international agencies and organizations, which makes the economic assistance important for establishing successful peace in the country (Richmond 2009;4-5).
For the purpose of this research, the previously mentioned first pillar of the
liberal peace concept will be used as the analytical framework, since this
research is more interested in the development of democracy, rule of law, and human rights in the country rather than the economic development that the Dayton has provided Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reasoning behind the choice to focus on the first pillar of liberal peace is the broad concept of economic development, marketization and globalization. For the purpose of the length and quality of this thesis, the author has therefore decided to focus only on one pillar.
The first pillar will be used as a lens to research the impacts the Liberal Peace, as the creator of the Dayton peace agreement, has had on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, this research will be looking into the democracy, rule of law, and human rights development since the signing of the
agreement. We can also argue that the Dayton peace agreement is an
institutional peace since it was signed and created multilaterally between the ethnic groups in BiH and the international agencies. This argument gives us a base on how the Dayton accord was created and what was the meaning with it, we can then later go into the first pillar of the liberal peace and see whether the set goals were achieved within the areas in the pillar.
3.2 The debate on Liberal Peace
The debate on liberal peace and whether it can be seen as a successful tool for peacebuilding has emerged over the years. Lemay-Hébert divides the debate on liberal peace into two categories, the critiques coming from so- called "critical scholars" and "problem solvers" (Lemay-Hébert 2013).
Lemay-Hébert argues that "The 'problem solvers' are believed to focus on
performance issues, while the 'critical scholars' are more inclined to question
the values and assumptions underpinning the liberal peace" (Lemay-Hébert
2013). Lemay-Hébert argues that the debate is divided between a call for
improvement of the liberal peace and the call for completely other concepts
for peacebuilding (Lemay-Hébert 2013).
Another critic of the liberal peace concept is Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, who in a joint book wrote together with some of the most influential critical thinkers where they critically analyze liberal peace and calls for other models of peacebuilding to be implemented instead of the liberal peace. Tadjbakhsh et.al argues that the "failures in the liberal peace project are not because of the efficiency problems related to the technicalities of its workings, but in the problematic assumptions and contradictions within the model itself and its claims of the pacifying effects of democratization and marketization"
(Tadjbakhsh et al 2011;5). Tadjbakhsh further evolves the argument and argues that there is a need to "evaluate the outcomes of the policies made from the outside world and their impact on the local norms, needs, culture and welfare" (Tadjbakhsh et al 2011;6) Therefore, Tadjbakhsh et al calls for an alternative approach which will be created on the local level while maintaining the international peace processes (Tadjbakhsh et al 2011;6).
A similar argument is shared by Richmond himself in 2011, where he also criticizes the liberal peace concept for failing to include the local people in the countries the peace is building (Richmond 2011;182). Therefore, one of the main arguments of the new concept of post-liberal peace is the call for the inclusion of the local actors to be the main actors in the peacebuilding in their countries, where they will promote the local history, norms, and
traditions and with united force build peace in their own societies (Richmond 2011;182). Roger Mac Ginty also discussed the area of local involvement within liberal peacebuilding. Ginty argues that the hegemonic system within the international peacebuilding can be solved by hybridization of the
peacebuilding (Ginty 2011;2). Ginty argues that "An implication of the
notion and process of hybridization is that few actors are able to chart and
maintain a unilateral course. Instead, actors in peace and war situations must
take account of the circum- stances created by other actors" (Ginty 2011;9).
The discussion on post-liberal peace by Richmond himself includes examples from countries that have been failed by the liberal peace interventions, one of them is Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is in high relevance to this research. Richmond criticizes the liberal peace in BiH and writes that "Some argue that the development of Bosnia Herzegovina's civil society and in particular institutions such as the electoral process, political parties, and the media have been unable to move beyond political exclusion caused by the Dayton Agreement's vision of the state" (Richmond, 2011:72).
Since the Dayton peace agreement has mainly been developed by the West and Western institutions, it can be seen as a product of liberal peace.
Therefore, the author has chosen to use the liberal peace concept, developed by Richmond and include his critique towards the concept of liberal peace, to determine if the Dayton agreement has indeed brought liberal peace to the country, or if the country is conflict-prone. This will help the author to look at the research topic from another perspective and achieve a broad finding on the research question.
4 Methodological Framework
4.1 Qualitative Text Analysis
Due to the extensive amount of literature available on the topic and the
research problem, the chosen method for the purpose of this research is
qualitative text analysis. Bryman (2015) defines qualitative research as "A
research strategy that usually emphasizes words rather than quantification in
the collection and analysis of data" (Bryman 2015:36). Within the qualitative
research, the writer empathizes with the available literature on a particular
problem they want to solve, investigating the words and meaning of the text
they are reading.
Text analysis is defined by Bryman as "A search for themes in transcripts or field notes" (Bryman 2015;624). Text analysis is analyzing the message and the meaning behind a document or article. The reader wants to get a broader picture of the topic the text is about, to be able to compare to other text about the same or similar topic and thereafter present its main arguments in its own research paper (Bryman 2015;557,624).
Another important part of qualitative research is theories that will be used for the research purpose. Qualitative research empathizes the usage of theories for a better understanding of the literature that is included in the research (Bryman 2015;36). Bryman argues that qualitative research "predominantly emphasizes an inductive approach to the relationship between theory and research, in which the emphasis is placed on the generation of theories"
(Bryman 2015;36). As mentioned previously, the research will be conducted abductive, meaning the theory will be used as a lens for a better
understanding of the research problem.
4.2 Case Study
Bryman (2015) argues that a case study "entails the detailed and intensive analysis of a single case" (Bryman 2015;66). In the case of this particular research, the case that will be studied is the Dayton peace agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of the case study is to research the Dayton peace agreement and whether it has achieved liberal peace in BiH.
As Bryman argues "With a case study, the case is an object of interest in its own right, and the researcher aims to provide an in-depth elucidation of it"
(Bryman 2015;66). In this case, the Dayton peace agreement and the
situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the signing of the peace agreement
will be used as a case for determining whether the Western design peace
agreements are successful and on what scale and if liberal peacebuilding has
been successful in the case of BiH.
To be able to pursue the chosen method of qualitative text analysis and case study, the author will be conducting the whole research as a desk study. Desk study means that the whole research will be conducted by only using the available data at home, meaning no field visits or trips will be done.
4.3 Discussion of sources
This study focuses predominately on the academic articles and journals on peace agreements and especially the Dayton peace agreement that can be founded online. This will help the author to build a clearer picture of the research topic and the chosen research problem. Since this research is a case study, the available data on Bosnia and Herzegovina will be used, to help the author develop a broad background.
Another source, for establishing answers for set questions, will be yearly reports on the development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Freedom House’s yearly reports on democracy in countries will be used extendedly throughout the findings since they cover the important areas of the research and will help to investigate the changes that have happened during the chosen period.
Due to the author's knowledge of the local language in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the study also includes articles from Bosnian scholars ex. Prof
Kasim Trnka, prof Omer Ibrahimagic, prof Miroslav Zivanovic, etc. The
inclusion of local scholars is important for the diversity and the objectivity of
this research. Extendedly from the academic articles in the Bosnian language,
the author will also use newspaper articles such as Klix, Pljevaljske Novine,
Balkan Insight, European Western Balkans, etc. The newspapers will be
carefully selected, due to the political influence that is present in some of the
newspaper's providers.
4.4 Limitations and Delimitations
As the Dayton peace agreement, was structured and developed with
extensive Western influence, existing research on the agreement mostly takes a Western perspective which harms the objectivity of the research on the topic. Therefore, sources for this study were carefully chosen to create as a balanced a picture as possible. Bosnian research material on this particular case will therefore be important for the creation of a broader picture. The broader picture of the research problem will be very helpful for determining the results therefore this can be seen as a delimitation in this particular research.
The delimitation in this research is the chosen methodological design. The author has decided to conduct the research as a case desk study, instead of a field study where one would interview people from Bosnia and Herzegovina on their believes and opinion on the Dayton peace agreement and whether they think that the peace agreement has brought a bright future for the country.
5 Background
The fall of former Yugoslavia has led to an unsecured future for its former member states. Following other member states of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed themselves independent from Yugoslavia in March 1992 (Rogel 2004;27). The proclamation of independence led to rising tensions between the different ethnic groups within the country,
especially the Serbs who were favoriting the Yugoslavian regime and wanted
to stay a part of it. The majority of the citizens in BiH were Muslims by 44%,
followed by Serbs who made 32% of the population and the Croats who
made 17% of the population (Freedom House, 2010). The tensions between
the ethnic groups have, soon after the independence referendum, led the country towards violent conflict and full-blown war (Perry, 2019).
Between 1992-1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina faced the worst war since World War II (Holbrooke, Chollet 2007). Three ethnicities, Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats acted as the main actors in the conflict, fighting for their
sovereignty in the country. The bloodiest conflict in Europe has led to thousands of civilian deaths, genocide against civilians, and millions of Bosnian refugees displaced around the world (Perry, 2019).
The 3,5 years long ended in 1995 by the signing of a peace agreement with the official name The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina or also called Dayton Peace Agreement. The peace
negotiations were held by the international agencies, such as United Nations, the involved parties in the civil war in BiH, and the political leaders from the neighboring countries of BiH (Trnka 2009). The purpose of the Dayton peace agreement, beyond peace and security, was to secure equality between the ethnic groups within the country (Jesús Alcalá 2005;13).
The equality between the ethnic groups in BiH will later be the main factor of all the areas within the country. The work on equality is seen in schools, politics, civil society, and the every-day life of the Bosnian people. Whether this helps the country to develop, will be investigated in the following chapters of this research.
6 Findings
6.1 The Dayton Agreement
As mentioned previously, the main goal of the Dayton peace agreement was
to bring all the involved parties and the country to peace and stability. The
involved parties were also offered help from the international agencies with
which they would unitedly work towards the development of BiH. The grounding of the Dayton Peace agreement is that BiH should govern as a democratic state which operates on the rule of law and free and democratic elections (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995: Annex 4). The Dayton Peace Agreement is divided into 11 separated agreements with the following categorization;
Agreement 1-B: Agreement on Regional Stabilization
Agreement 2: Agreement on Inter-Entity Boundary Line and Related Issues Agreement 3: Agreement on Elections
Agreement 4: Constitution
Agreement 5: Agreement on Arbitration Agreement 6: Agreement on Human Rights
Agreement 7: Agreement on Refugees and Displaced Persons
Agreement 8: Agreement on the Commission to Preserve National Monuments Agreement 9: Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina Public Corporations Agreement 10: Agreement on Civilian Implementation
Agreement 11: Agreement on International Police Task Force
(Source; Dayton Peace Agreement 1995) The presented 11 agreements are focusing on the most important and fragile areas in a post-war BiH. The involved parties have therefore agreed on resolving and work towards development within the set areas. As this study focuses primary on the first pillar of the liberal peace concept, the author of this research therefore argues that it is important to use the parts of the Dayton agreement that correspond to the chosen pillar. Therefore, the focus of this research will be the agreements on the election, constitution, human rights, and civilian implementation.
6.1.1 Agreement 3: Election
According to the Dayton peace agreement, the involved parties and the
country would follow a new set of regulations in terms of elections. The
involved parties agreed on organizing free and fair elections within 6 months
of signing the agreement, where every citizen that has turned 18 will be ensured the right to vote secretly without pressure from the political sphere.
The parties also agreed on cooperation with OSCE on the organization of the elections in both entities, whose main purpose is to oversee and monetarize the elections and that they are following the set rules (Dayton Peace
Agreement 1995; Agreement 3).
6.1.2
Agreement 4: Constitution
The Dayton peace agreement calls for a constitution that will be based on respect for human dignity, liberty, and equality. The constitution of BiH shall also desire peace, justice, tolerance, reconciliation, and promotion the
general welfare and economic growth (Dayton Peace Agreement, 1995:
Agreement 4) According to the new constitution, agreed in the Dayton peace agreement, the political system in BiH shall be build up as follows:
The National Assembly is built on two chambers; the House of Peoples and the House of Representatives. The House of Peoples consist of 15 delegates of which two thirds (10 delegates) are from FED and one third (5 delegates) from RS. House of Representatives consist of 42 delegates, where also two thirds should be selected from FED and one third from RS (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995: Agreement 4).
The presidential post within the country is divided by the three-
constitutional people, which means that BiH consists of three presidents, one
Croat, one Serb and one Bosniak. Croat and Bosniaks presidents are directly
elected from the Federation and the Serb president is directly elected from
the Serb Republic. The presidency in BiH has the power over the foreign
policy of the country and also the power of nominating the so-called chair of
Council of Ministers, this is thus done in cooperation with the House of
Representatives (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995; Agreement 4).
The Council of Ministers is nominated by the presidents and the House of Representatives. The main the responsibility of the Council of Ministers and the chair is to carry out the policies in BiH (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995;
Agreement 4).
By signing the Dayton peace agreement, BiH was divided into two entities, Federation and Serb Republic (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995; Agreement 4). The majority of the people living in Federation was Bosniaks and Croats, whereas in Serb Republic it was Serbs and small minority of Bosniaks. The main goal of each entity is to cooperate with the national parliament and provide safe environments for their citizens. RS consist of the National Assembly and a Presidency. FED consists of 10 cantonal governments as well as the autonomous region Brcko District (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995: Agreement 4).
The constitution of BiH is protected by the Rule of Law, meaning that the people of BiH have right to influence the country. The rule of law within the BiH is protected by the Constitutional Court that upholds the constitution that has been decided by the Dayton peace agreement. It is stated in the Dayton Peace Agreement that the constitutional court of BiH shall have jurisdiction over issues that are compromising the constitution, European Convention for Human rights and the Fundamental Freedoms and its protocols (Dayton Peace Agreement, 1995; Agreement 4).
6.1.3 Agreement 10; Civilian Implementation
The so-called High Representative is a post owned by the United Nations,
whose main purpose is to oversee that the peace agreement is being followed
and respected by all the parties. Another task of the High Representative is to
engage with civil society and coordinate activities that promote human rights
and civic engagement. The High Representative is thus also a big part of the
BiH constitution where the involvement of the international community is
guaranteed (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995; Agreement 10).
6.1.4 Agreement 6; Human Rights
The Dayton Peace Agreement includes the framework on how human rights should be respected and protected in BiH. According to the Dayton Peace Agreement, the involved parties agreed on securing the rights of the Bosnian people by recognition of the highest level of internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms. The desire of the agreement on Human Rights is to unite all the parties to not discriminate against the citizens of BiH and to respect everyone in the country, therefore the
agreement also included an agreement on usage of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols (Dayton Peace Agreement 1995 Agreement 6).
6.2 Debate on the Dayton Peace Agreement 1995-2011
Some researchers underline that the Dayton peace agreement has brought peace and stability to BiH, but there is a whole debate on the complexity within the political and constitutional sphere, that has been caused by the Dayton agreement (Perry 2019). As presented previously, the constitution and the whole construction of BiH are dominated by quotas and laws on how equality should be secured within the political system of BiH. Chandler argues that the Dayton agreement divided the country instead of uniting it, writes that the Dayton agreement "created a weak central state and a country divided into two separate entities, the Republika Srpska (RS) and the
Muslim-Croat Federation, with ten cantonal governments, as well as an autonomous region, Brcko" (Chandler, 2006;123). Chandler argues that the dividing of the governance in BiH has made it hard for the country to democratize and develop.
There has also been increasing debate on the ongoing involvement of the
international agencies in Bosnian politics. The previously presented office of
High Representative has been criticized for freezing the politics and
controlling the decision-making in BiH. Chandler writes that "the international powers of administration, under the Office of the High
Representative, have been vastly increased, demonstrating that the Bosnian institutions established by Dayton are administrative shells" (Chandler 2006;123). Chandler argues that the increased power from the international agencies has challenged the functionality of the local power and therefore froze the politics in BiH. Later in the findings chapter, the critics towards High Representative and the international agencies in BiH, is also presented from the local political elite.
Richmond's work has also contributed to the debate on the Dayton
agreement. In 2009, when presenting the framework for the liberal peace, Richmond presented that BiH remains to be locked in a place, with small movement towards development, the ethnic and religious tensions are still present, marketization has not helped the people of BiH and even the civil society has little process over the first decade since the peace agreement has been signed (Richmond 2009;54). Richmond also argues that smaller progress has indeed been made in the country in terms of economic
development, but his main argument remains to be that the complexity of the Dayton agreement has compromised the opportunity of the country to
liberalize and develop (Richmond 2009;76).
Later in 2011, when discussing the new concept of Post-Liberal peace,
Richmond once again included the situation in BiH, focusing mainly on the
impact the liberal peacebuilding has had on the civil society and failure with
including the locals in the development of their own country (Richmond
2011;74). Richmond writes that "Liberal peacebuilding or statebuilding has
ultimately been disabling, rather than enabling, and from a local perspective
represents an international ignorance of local politics, history, experiences,
and embedded methods and dynamics, as well as needs issues which provide
conflict and division with much of its traction" (Richmond 2011;78).
Therefore, Richmond calls the international agencies to engage with the dynamics occurring in BiH, rather than ignoring them and blaming the locals for not being interested in the liberalization of their country (Richmond 2011;78).
Even local scholars have developed the discussion on the Dayton peace agreement. One of them is Kasim Trnka, who argues that the Dayton
agreement has frozen the constitutional development in BiH and has brought more diversity than unity in the country (Trnka, 2009). Trnka writes that the main focus of the Dayton peace agreement lies in the ethnicities, entities, and cantonal diversity compromising the democratic integration of the people and the country, which made it difficult for BiH to democratize and move beyond the war and hate, in the first century since the peace agreement was signed. Since the main focus of the political elite lies on ethnic division and personal gain, the country is facing a serious lack of interest in the
development of the country as a whole (Trnka, 2009).
An interesting argument is developed by prof. Omer Ibrahimagic in 2006, where he argues that the Dayton agreement is a ground for BiH to develop towards Europe- meaning European Union (Ibrahimagic 2006). Ibrahimagic thus argues even though the Dayton agreement has created a ground for development towards Europe it will not provide the country with the "keys"
for the European Union door until the constitution of BiH is reformed to be suitable with the European Convention on Human Rights and the
fundamental rights. Similar to Trnka's argument, Ibrahimagic argues that the
political elite in the country needs to unite and work towards democratization
and development of BiH as a whole to be late able to enter the door of the
European Union and bring Bosnian citizens a better life and opportunities
such organization provides (Ibrahimagic 2006).
6.3 Steps towards democratization, rule of law and human rights 2011-2020
6.3.1 Democratization
Throughout the second decade after the signing of the Dayton agreement, Freedom House writes that BiH remains to be frozen in the overall development of the country mostly because of the dysfunctionality of the government and a general lack of interest by the political elite to unite and work closely with each other on the important political questions in the country such as; high levels of unemployment, the emigration of the young people, segregation, European integration (Freedom House 2011-2020).
6.3.1.1 Elections
Overall, during the second decade of the peace agreement, the elections in BiH have been noted as only partly free and fair, according to the Freedom House (Freedom House 2012-2020). Since 1996, when the first elections were held in BiH, the elections in the country have been regularly organized within the framework of elections with some exceptions (see below). In 2016 the national electoral committee in BiH called for the reform of the electoral law. One of the main problems that are occurring within the electoral system in BiH is that the members of the electoral committee are elected from the party membership, which compromises the objectivity of their work (Freedom House 2017).
Over the years, there have been allegations of fraud made when presenting
the results from the elections. In 2012 there were allegations made, by the
Serb side, towards the winning Bosniak major in Srebrenica (Freedom House
2013). During the 2018 national elections, the OSCE expressed seriousness
concerning the ongoing violations of elections in the country. The OSCE
notes that there is a "lack of confidence in the impartiality of all levels of the
election administration, largely due to suspected commissioners' political and
ethnic bias" (OSCE, 2018).
Similar to other political areas in BiH, the ethnic division is noted even within the electoral system in BiH. Due to difficulties to unite and resolve the electoral system in ethnically divided Mostar, the city has not held any local elections since 2008. The 12 years-long progress of negotiation by the
representatives for the Bosniaks and Croat political parties was solved in July 2020 with the cooperation of the EU and US, where the involved parties agreed on how the ruling of Mostar will look like in the future (Kraske 2020). The first local elections in Mostar, since 2008 were held on 20th December 2020 where around 100 000 thousand citizens used their right to vote (Izbori 2020). The preliminary information available on the elections in Mostar state that the elections were held within the free and fair framework (Karabegovic 2020).
Overall, there is clear functionality of the electoral system in the country where the elections are regularly arranged, and people's votes are being counted. The positive process in Mostar also shows the increased level of functionality within the electoral system in BiH. The expressed concerns and findings from OSCE and Freedom House are thus important to mention and until solving them the democratization of the country is indeed
compromised.
6.3.1.2 Political development
The main difficulties with the elections in BiH are the coming months after elections. Freedom House has made notes that the post-electoral situation in BiH is often followed by a frozen overall development of the country
(Freedom House 2012, 2016). For example, 2010 national elections remained
unsolved until 2012 when the winning parties finally agreed on forming a
state government (Freedom House 2012). The 2010 elections per se showed
high participation of voters. In an analysis of the 2010 elections, Adnan
Rondic writes that the participation in the elections has been the highest in 10
years, the elections were dominated by the young people, which was a sign that people in BiH wanted changes (Rondic, 2010).
The political changes that the people hoped to get, did not happen during the coming years. The frozen governance of the country continued during the year 2012, where Freedom House notes that the new government was more focused on removing people from the governmental posts, than on resolving the resolutions for EU membership. The Bosnian government also continued to miss deadlines for NATO and resolving the problem of the constitutional discrimination of the people (Freedom House 2013).
The dissatisfaction with the politics in the country led to the mobilization of the Bosnian citizens in the Federation during 2014, where the people in BiH participated in large demonstrations against the ruling politics in the country, these demonstrations have proven that the people of BiH have had enough of the frozen politics in the country. The so-called "Balkan Spring" did not lead to any bigger changes within the governance of the country (Judah 2014, Radio Sarajevo 2018).
The European Commission also notes that the post-electoral situation in the country is often the reason for the slow or non-development of the country towards an EU-membership. In the 2020 report, the Commission writes that the frozen development in resolving the key areas for EU-membership was blocked by the political situation in the country which was resulted in the 2018 general elections. 2018 elections were solved 14 months afterward when the winning parties agreed on appointing the new government. This has compromised the much-needed improvement of the key areas in BiH
(European Commission; Bosnia and Herzegovina 2020).
6.3.1.3 The European Union Membership
The Dayton agreement states that BiH shall continue to be a member state of
the United Nations and recommends that the country applies for membership
in other international organizations as well (Dayton Peace Agreement, 1995;
Agreement 4). Therefore, there has been a desire within the country to become a member state of the European Union, which would bring the country closer to development and the West.
Most of the electoral campaigns in BiH are dominated by the discussion on the European Union integration and membership. In an analysis for Deutsche Welle in 2018, Zijad Becirovic argues that the majority of the politicians are positive towards EU membership and integration towards the West, but that they remain to be focused on their personal gains instead of the countries as a whole. Becirovic presents an interesting finding, where the three presidents argue that they are for European integration but are in fact leaning towards other superpowers in the world. The president for the Serb ethnicity Milorad Dodik is leaning towards Russia, President for the Bosniaks ethnicity Bakir Izetbegovic is leading towards Turkey and the President for the Croat ethnicity is promoting negative European values, such as fascism and discrimination (Huseinović 2018). This makes it harder for BiH to work on European integration when the biggest leaders in the country are leading towards other ideologies but the Western.
Even though there is significant diversity in the European integration of BiH,
the government has made progress in becoming a member of the EU. In 2016
BiH finally applied for the EU-membership, Freedom House thus writes that
the application was incomplete, and the country was not prepared for any
coming steps (Freedom House 2017). EU accepted the application later in
2016 and came back with a plan for the BiH way towards the membership in
2017. The plan involved 14 priorities on key reforms the country needed to
resolve before becoming an EU member state. The 14 priorities that the EU
has provided BiH is a roadmap for the needed reforms within the country, the
reforms cover areas such as democracy/functionality; rule of law;
fundamental rights; and public administration reform (European Commission 2019).
The development towards EU membership has been slow but positive, in 2020 the news reported that the government of BiH agreed on one of 14 priorities regarding the voting procedure which has been negotiated for years. The parties agreed on the proposal that the EU made, which meant that the decisions will require a two-thirds majority to be able to pass. European Western Balkans reported in July of 2020 that the agreement has proven the functionality of the parties in the country, the agreement on the one priority also proves the cooperation beyond the ethnic differences between the parties (European Western Balkans 2020).
There is indeed interest by the political elite in the country to move towards the EU, but the overall lack of united will to together work towards the EU has compromised the process of the EU-membership. The EU authorities have thus shown increased pressure on the political elite in the country which needs to take the EU membership seriously and unitedly work towards it.
Even though the country has shown an increased interest in resolving the needed reforms, the EU is pressuring the country to faster the process. In the 2020 annual report on BiH, the European Commission notes the slow
development and improvement of the country's key areas. The European Commission writes that the authorities need to step up the development and improvement of the key areas that are compromising the EU membership.
Even though the Commission writes that BiH has some level of preparedness but is at an early stage to become an EU member state, the authorities have a lot to tackle before BiH can officially become an EU member state
(European Commission 2020).
During the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Dayton peace
agreement, the European Parliament board for foreign affairs held a special
conference with a focus on the development BiH has made 25 years after the peace agreement was signed. The High Representative/The vice President Joseph Borrell has made clear statements that the politicians in BiH need to move beyond Dayton towards Brussels. The needed reforms that will bring BiH closer to the European Union membership can only be achieved if the political parties in BiH unite and start cooperating for the better future of BiH, not the specific groups they are representing (EEAS, 2020).
6.3.1.4 Press and civil society
Freedom of the press and the civil society is protected by the Dayton peace agreement. According to the Reporters without borders (RSF), the diversity that is imposed in the country's overall system can be seen in the press. The harassment based on diversity is very common within the Bosnian media, but the RSF also acknowledges the high influence by the political elite on the journalists and their prohibited right to write. Even though there is high influence by the political elite in BiH towards media, RSF writes that the media has managed to over the years provide the citizen's information on corruption, fake diplomas, and other breaking news considering the political elite in the country. Since the freedom of the press is not that guaranteed in the country, is currently ranked at place 58 in the World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders, 2020).
Civil society in BiH is one of the areas the EU has emphasized is an urge to develop. The importance of a well-functioned civil society in BiH has been emphasized by the EU, who argues that the civil society is the key to the needed reforms in BiH (European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2020). The people in BiH are free to express themselves and act. The people's willingness to act has been shown under many events over the years ex. Mobilization in 2014 mentioned previously and the development of the LGBTQ community discussed later in this research.
Freedom House thus argues that even though the NGO is developed in BiH,
the members are prohibited from criticizing the authorities since the main fundings is coming from the state (Freedom House 2020).
6.3.2 Rule of Law and Human Rights
