Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'War in Bosnia and Herzegovina'

This dissertation explores the ‘socio-cultural dilemma’ facing international peacebuilders in war-torn societies through a case study of the post-conflict process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is done with the help of a typological approach of the grid-group Cultural Theory framework, which defines four social solidarities – or ideal type cultures – of individualism, egalitarianism, fatalism and hierarchy. A central argument in the thesis is that international intervention is culturally individualistic and/or egalitarian, thus socio-culturally unviable in war-torn societies, which are usually dominated by hierarchical and fatalist social solidarities.

This underlying socio-cultural conflict is used to trace the Bosnian post-war process, where the relationship between the managing international institution – the Office of the High Representative of the International Community – and the local nationalist elites repeatedly changed in response to the failure of international policies to produce the desired result, namely broad socio-cultural change in the local politics and society. Four different periods in the process are identified: 1) ’economic conditionality’, 2) ‘Bonn Powers’, 3) ‘the concept of ownership’ and 4) ‘Euro-Atlantic integration’. Each period is defined by different culturally biased policies, supported by corresponding social relations and strategic behaviours.

The individualistic and egalitarian biased approaches usually resulted in failures, as they were not viable in the local socio-cultural context. After adapting to the local context, new viable approaches produced results in specific policy areas, but at the cost of unwanted side-effects in the form of reinforcement of dominant social solidarities. The result was therefore contrary to the broad goal of the process, which was to transform the local political culture.

In other words, the defining and re-defining of the OHR’s role in the Bosnian process was a consequence of the dilemma of having to make an unsatisfactory choice: either to adapt to the way the political game is played in the Bosnian socio-cultural context in order to achieve effectiveness in the policy process, or to stay true to the peacebuilders’ own cultural biases and attempt to change the local socio-cultural accordingly. In essence, it is argued, this is the socio-cultural viability dilemma that is inherent in international peacebuilding.

In unveiling of the socio-cultural viability dilemma, the dissertation explores central problems in the Bosnian post-conflict process. It provides a credible explanation to a number of hitherto unexplained difficulties and paradoxes experienced in Bosnia. It concludes that the international intervention in this particular case was neither a success story nor a failure per se, but one which failed to properly address the dilemma of socio-cultural viability. The key conclusions regarding peacebuilding in general are that there should be a greater under¬¬standing of socio-cultural issues in peacebuilding in order to better manage the socio-cultural viability dilemma. Practically, this means that international peacebuilders need to adapt to local context and strive towards the goal of local ownership of the process. The aim should be to make the intervention as viable as possible, as quickly as possible, to boldly implement policies that promote changes in the local socio-cultural context, and to withdraw only after the necessary conditions for local ownership are in place.

This work is about how international housing assistance to societies affected by war contributes toward long-term recovery. Or does not. Current wars are characterized by large, often identity specific population movements causing an extreme and urgent need for shelter. This research does not deal with (emergency) ‘shelter’, but with (permanent) ‘housing’, which has come to be one of the largest funding sectors of international aid to countries ravaged by war.

It is my contention that housing re/construction, because of its socio-material nature and high economic value may contribute towards long-term recovery. My research is therefore focusing on the relationship between the overall process of recovery and the way internationally funded housing projects are implemented. Recovery is conceptualized as a time limited, complex and reflexive activity, i.e. guided by past experience, both of pre-war conditions, and of the war itself. This makes recovery an endogenously driven process. In examining the implementation of foreign funded housing programs I submit, aided by prevailing theory, three chief attributes of housing: 1) that of physical object with its technical determinants and functional responsiveness, 2) that of object of meaning, i.e. symbol, which allows for, or even determines human action, and 3) that of vehicle of development, both by its backward linkages. i.e. creating demand and employment, but also by forward linkages, i.e. what people with housing will be able to do. All these attributes refer back to “what houses can do”, not only to “what houses are”.

The New Wars create a new and extremely complex context for international housing interventions. Unlike the indiscriminate mass destruction of housing of former wars, today housing is destroyed as a function of the owners’ identity. The destruction of housing has become an integral part of ethnic cleansing. This fact has lead donors to concentrate on rebuilding the destroyed housing as a means of reintegrating the displaced, an idea that seems simplistic given the meaning of recovery, the nature of housing - and the grave political complexity of the new wars.

Ideology as well as practical considerations have made the international NGOs the major agents of international aid. Their new role comes from that fact that most of the NGOs now receive substantial parts of their income from governments – to carry out government sponsored projects. Housing is a favored sector of intervention in war affected areas. Yet very few NGOs have any experience with housing. They make up for it by hiring building professionals on short-term field contracts. What little there is of theoretical writing that on housing re/construction after current wars, indicate that the NGOs – guided by their donors – apply an emergency approach also to permanent housing. Housing is conceived as shelter, which makes it a logistical challenge to fulfill basic short-term needs. If such an approach is applied, will it still contribute towards societal recovery?

Within this frame I have examined three multi-phased housing projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I explore their performance and capacity to enhance long-term recovery. Acknowledging the endogenous, reflexive nature of recovery, I had to approach it qualitatively, yet be able to draw theoretical conclusions on a broader scale. I have investigated how the housing projects are performing as physical entities, as generators or inhibitors of social and socio-material interaction, and I have examined how the housing projects have impacted local markets, production and the buildings industry. I do this by applying a societal capital approach which holds (re)development a function of beneficial flows from four societal capitals, i.e. fixed, environmental, human and social capital. Recovery is supported when housing investments also replenish the other capitals modes so that the inhabitants may draw benefits from their enriched interaction.

My cases are 1) set at different times in the reconstruction process, 2) set at different places and 3) executed differently by different NGOs. They yielded different, yet consistent conclusions within the three aspects of housing: physical object, symbol and strategy:

• The long-term nature of housing construction is ignored in that technical solutions, workmanship – and not least – the choice of location reflect an emergency attitude where inappropriate solutions are accepted “because it is war”. There is a reluctance to plan beyond the immediate even for structures that can last generations.

• The symbolic power of housing is reconfirmed for those who are able to reestablish livelihood networks at their place of origin. Return does not make strategic sense, hence is not a “durable solution”, for those whose networks are irreparably destroyed. For those who can return, housing reconstruction becomes a symbolic act, both to reestablish ontological security, but also to demonstrate against former perpetrators. Housing reconstruction in itself is therefore not a vehicle towards reconciliation.

• Housing re/construction in times of war is a way of disseminating purchasing power through employment. There is no production, no social or financial institutions by which the building industry can develop. Internationally funded reconstruction therefore relies on large scale – and tax free - imports of buildings materials. However, my cases show that domestic demand more often than that of NGOs draws upon imports. Recovery momentum is lost in not supporting the (re)establishment of the local building materials industry.

• My cases confirm the recovery powers of local agency. When substantive decisions on reconstruction are transferred from the NGO to the local community as part of the material support to housing re/construction, the community is also entrusted with support from external agents, like their own diaspora. This combination replenishes all capital modes of the community. The validity of this observation is inversely confirmed by another case where the inhabitants were not at all entrusted with decision-making powers, i.e. their human and social capitals were depleted. This also becomes apparent in that fixed and environmental capitals are also eroded.

I have concluded by presenting implications for policy, practice and research.

Denne avhandlingen handler om internasjonal bistand til boligreisning i krigsherjede områder, og hvordan slik bistand kan bidra til langsiktig gjenreisning. Eller hvordan den ikke bidrar. Dagens kriger preges av store demografiske forkastninger, ofte knyttet til befolkninggruppers etniske tilknytning. Dette fører til enorme boligbehov. Foreliggende forskningsarbeid dreier seg ikke om nødboliger slik vi finner dem i flyktningeleire, men på permanent boligbygging/boligreising. Hjelp til bolig(gjen)reising er ett av de største internasjonale innsatsområdene i krigsherjede områder.

Mitt utgangspunkt er boligbygging og boliggjenreisning, i kraft av sin sosio-materielle natur og betydelige økonomiske verdi, er spesielt egnet som innsatsområde for langsiktig gjenreisning. Min forskning fokuserer derfor på forholdet mellom de overordnede gjenreisningsprosessene og måten internasjonalt finansierte boligbyggingsprosjekter blir gjennomført på. Gjenreisning blir konseptualisert som en tidsbegrenset, kompleks og refleksiv aktivitet. At den er refleksiv innebærer at den er formet av tidligere erfaringer, både av forhold før krigen brøt ut og av selve krigen. Dette gjør gjenreisning til en prosess som drives fram av 'egne erfaringer', til en "deltakende" prosess. Ved hjelp av ledende teori fokuserer jeg på tre hovedattributter ved boliger i studien av gjennomføringen av internasjonalt finansierte boligreisningsprosjekter: 1) at det er fysiske objekter med teknisk determinanter og egenskaper for funksjonell tilpasning; 2) at de er meningsobjekter, de er symboler som lager rom for, eller til og med er bestemmende for, menneskelig handling; og 3) at de er investeringsobjekter, eller verktøy for utvikling, både gjennom å skape etterspørsel og sysselsetting, men også gjennom hva mennesker med bolig vil kunne utføre. Alle disse attributtene er knyttet til ”hva boligen gjør”, ikke bare ”hva boligen er”.

De såkalte 'Nye Krigene' skaper nye og svært komplekse betingelse for internasjonal bistand til boliggjenreisning. Til forskjell fra tidligere krigers masseødeleggelser av boliger, ødelegges boliger i nåtidens kriger som en funksjon av eierens identitet. Ødeleggelsen av boliger har blitt en integrert del av etnisk rensning. Dette har ført at de internasjonale giverne har konsentrert seg om gjenoppbygging av ødelagte boliger som redskap for å gjenintegrere de fordrevne – og gjennom det skape fred. I lys av gjenreisningens forutsetning, boligen flerdimensjonale natur og den grunnleggende politiske kompleksiteten ved de nye krigene, kan dette virke dette rett så forenklet.

Både ideologi og praktiske hensyn har ført til at internasjonale ikke-statlige organisasjoner (NGOer) har blitt hovedaktører i internasjonal bistand. Deres nye rolle kommer av at de fleste NGOene får hovedparten av inntekten sin fra regjeringer – for å utføre regjeringsstøttede prosjekter. Til tross for at boligbygging er en foretrukket innsatssektorsektor i krigsherjede områder, er det svært få NGOer som har boligreisningsefaring. Dette kompenserer de ved å hyre inn profesjonelle byggfolk på kortidskontrakter. Det lille som finnes av teori om gjenreisning etter nye kriger, indikerer at NGOene – støttet av sine statlige finansieringskilder – anvender en nødhjelpstilnærming også hva angår permanent boligbygging. Bolig blir forstått som om ’husly’. Det retter innsatsen inn mot å umiddelbare behov. Men kan man bidra til langsiktig gjenreisning av krigsskadde samfunn ved å benytte innsatsmidler som varer i generasjoner til først og fremst å løse akutte, men midlertidige boligbehov? Det vil i hvert fall fordre planperspektiver som strekker seg ut over nødfasen.

Innenfor dette rammeverket har jeg undersøkt tre større boligprosjekter i Bosnia-Herzegovina. Jeg undersøker deres egenskaper og kapasitet til å kunne fremme langsiktig gjenreisning. Med utgangspunkt i at gjenreisning er refleksiv og styrt av lokale prosesser, har jeg måttet tilnærme meg feltet kvalitativt, men samtidig være i stand til å trekke teoretiske konklusjoner i større skala. Jeg har undersøkt hvordan boligreisningsprosjekter oppfyller krav som stilles til boliger som fysiske objekter, og hvordan de genererer eller hindrer sosial og sosio-materiell samhandling. I tillegg har jeg undersøkt hvordan boligreisningsprosjekter har påvirket lokal etterspørsel og tilbud, produksjon og den lokale byggeindustrien. Dette gjør jeg gjennom å benytte en kapitalforståelse av samfunnet som ser på utvikling og gjenreisning som en funksjon av positiv samhandling mellom fire samfunnsmessige kapitalformer, nemlig fysisk kapital, miljøkapital, menneskelig kapital og sosial kapital. Gjenreisning skjer når økonomiske investeringer i boligbygging (vekst i fysisk kapital) også fører til vekst i de andre kapitalformene, og der innbyggerne kan trekke fordeler av denne veksten.

Prosjektene jeg har studert er gjennomført til ulik tid i gjenoppbyggingsprosessen, på ulike sted, og gjennomført av ulike agenter, (NGOer). Studiet av prosjektene førte til forskjellige, men likevel konsistente konklusjoner angående de tre attributtene som boliger innehar: fysisk objekt, symbol og strategi:

• Boligens langsiktige egenskaper blir ignorert ved at tekniske løsninger, utførelse og, ikke minst, valg av lokalisering reflekterer en nødhjelpsholdning, der mindreverdige løsninger blir godtatt ”fordi det er krig”, ikke nødvendigvis fordi det ikke fins alternativer. Det er motstand mot å planlegge utover det umiddelbare.

• Boligens symbolske kraft blir bekreftet for de som klarer å gjenopprette sosiale og økonomiske nettverk på sine opprinnelsessteder. For de som opplever at nettverkene er ugjenkallelig ødelagt, blir det ’å flytte tilbake’ meningsløst og oppfattes ingenlunde som en ”varig løsning”. Selve boligreisning blir en symbolsk handling for de som kan reise tilbake, både ved at det gjenoppretter ontologisk trygghet, men også som demonstrasjon mot deres overgripere. Boliggjenreisning i seg selv er derfor intet egnet redskap for forsoning.

• Bolig(gjenopp)bygging i krigstid er en måte å formidle og fordele kjøpekraft på. I krigsherjede land der produksjonsmidlene er ødelagt, og der sosiale og økonomiske institusjoner har kollapset, fint det ingenting for byggebransjen å utvikle seg gjennom. Derfor må den internasjonalt finansierte gjenoppbyggingen i stor basere seg på (skattefri) import av byggevarer. Likevel viser de prosjektene jeg har studert at lokalt generert etterspørsel i enda større grad enn den som genereres gjennom NGOene, retter seg mot import. Gjenreisningskraften tappes i vesentlig grad av at ikke bistandsinnsatsen også rettes inn mot (gjen)opprettelse av lokal produksjon av byggematerialer.

• Prosjektene jeg har studert bekrefter gjenreisningskraften hos lokale aktører i lokale handlingsrom. Når vesentlige beslutninger som gjelder den materielle støtten til boliggjenreisningen blir overført fra NGOene til lokalsamfunnet, gir det lokalsamfunnet en legitimitet som utløser støtte også fra andre eksterne aktører, som deres egen diaspora. Dette forsterker alle kapitalformene i lokalsamfunnet. Der slik beslutningsoverføring ikke finner sted, hindres en gjenreisning av menneskelig og sosial kapital. Det fortærer i sin tur både fysiske kvaliteter ved boligen og miljøet.

Jeg har konkludert ved å presentere implikasjoner for planlegging, praksis og forskning.

This bachelor thesis in political science investigates whether the ethnic groupings in Bosnia and Herzegovina will lead to a separation of the country or if the country has potentials to develop and unify. The purpose of the thesis is to see what the underlying problems to this ethnic mentality are. Bosnia and Herzegovina was known for its multiethnic characteristics with three ethnic groups living side by side, the Muslims, the Croats and the Serbs. However, in the beginning of the 1990’s everything changed. New nationalistically oriented politicians made their names known and opinions based on ethnic belongings became important within every ethnic group.

The aim with this thesis is to introduce the reader to the problems Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced in late twentieth century. Several international actors were involved in the conflict and after a lot of pressure on the native politicians the Dayton Peace Agreement which put an end to the war was signed. Unfortunately, as in many cases before, the outcome shows that the people are the ones left with the consequences from the decisions the politicians make.

The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a developing country that once was a part of thecommunist Yugoslavia, is struggling to move from wartime to peacetime, to shift from acentrally controlled economy to a free market economy, and to stir from a socialist stylegovernment to a democracy. All of these processes lend themselves to great corruption. Theaim with this paper, thus, is to provide a frame of reference that can be used when writing andimplementing policies against corruption in BiH. This paper tries to identify the sectors inBiH that are most affected by corruption and to discuss possible causes of corruption in thecountry. The paper also discusses possible effects that corruption in BiH has on the country’seconomic growth, how corruption can be fought in the country and how a successfulreduction in corruption affects BiH’s economic growth.This work finds several flaws and weaknesses in the society of BiH. BiH faces today weakpolicies, weak institutions and weak penalty systems. There are strong regulations and noinstitutional controls. The economy is weak and leads to poverty. This paper argues that it isthrough these weaknesses in the society that corruption in BiH has arisen, and hasconsequently affected all major sectors and institutions in the country; it can be seen in thepolitical parties, the Police and other Enforcement Structures, the Judiciary, public utilities,the Health System and the Education System. Corruption has furthermore slowed down theprivatization process and is used by employers during recruitment processes to exploitcitizens in need of a job.This paper also finds that corruption in BiH brings with it its own distortions as it underminessocial capital by creating mistrust between various actors in the country, hinders bothdomestic and foreign investment, increases poverty and encourages growth of the blackmarket. All of these distortions lead to a slowdown in the economic growth.Furthermore, this paper asserts that BiH needs help from the European Union, the Office ofhigh Representative and possibly other international actors in the fight against corruption.They must help BiH to implement strategies that will give the leading politicians incentives tofight corruption. The paper stresses the lack of politicians’ will to fight corruption in BiHtoday as the biggest and most central problem in the fight against corruption. The anticorruptionprogram in this paper therefore emphasizes the importance of anti-corruptionmeasures that first and foremost deal with this problem. Only when this issue is resolved canBiH move to anti-corruption strategies on national level. The anti-corruption strategies onnational level themselves should contain effective government anti-corruption strategies.They should also promote anti-corruption education and secure free access to information.Finally, this work identifies probable positive effects on BiH’s economic growth if corruptionis successfully fought; the country will experience higher domestic and foreign investment,the mistrust will decrease and result in higher social capital, and both poverty and the blackmarketactivity will be reduced.