Blasé is not what Bosnia needs
Amar Causevic, a young Bosniak friend studying at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Bologna, writes
US Embassy in Sarajevo has been attacked!…The attacker was a Wahabi follower of Bosniak origin from Novi Pazar [Serbia]…There are no words with which I can describe my anger at this moment. I feel so ashamed and disappointed as a citizen of Bosnia and dweller of Sarajevo. Americans are great friends of Bosnia-Herzegovina and if it was not for them God knows what would happen to us. Sorry if this email caused any inconveniences, but I simply wanted to share my frustration with you.
I’m glad he did share his frustration, as it illustrates well an attitude that is much more common among Muslims in Bosnia than the extremist Wahabi one, which will naturally grab a headline or two in the next 24 hours.
The Bosnian government has denounced the attack. Media are reporting that a policeman and the attacker were wounded. Embassy personnel are safe.
Sarajevo these days is about as quiet and relaxed as any city in Europe. But I confess to concern that radicalization of all sorts could ensue if Bosnia’s current political problems are not resolved. The country is going on a year without installing a government after the last elections. The financial situation is deteriorating. People are increasingly frustrated and annoyed. The passions are not readily contained within any given country’s borders. The potential for instability is real.
I don’t know which of Bosnia’s tripod of nationalisms will in the end cause an upheaval, but it would be unwise for the international community to continue its blasé attitude.
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“But I confess to concern that radicalization of all sorts could ensue if Bosnia’s current political problems are not resolved. The country is going on a year without installing a government after the last elections.”
Belgium is taking a very long time to form a government too. Yet I hear nobody there talking about a risk of radicalization. Rather you see both sides gradually becoming more aware of the position of the other side. As Bosnians speak the same language this should for them be even easier.
One risk is that outside actors get involved. I see the talk about “radicalization” as an attempt to do that by suggesting that if the West doesn’t help the Bosniaks will turn to Muslim extremist countries for help. I think we should not let this trick succeed.
The West is at the moment doing exactly the same in Bosnia and Kosovo: encouraging their favorite party to create “facts on the ground”. I see this as mafia politics. In Bosnia this gets the form of Bosniak parties usurping the Croat position by claiming to be multi-ethnic. This got explicit Western support when the OHR overruled the Central Election Commission.
“Facts on the ground” is how Hitler started his career of international aggression. It is naive to suppose that it will in the Balkans have a more stable outcome.