Submission Date

4-25-2016

Document Type

Paper

Department

Politics

Adviser

Rebecca Evans

Committee Member

Rebecca Evans

Committee Member

Ross Doughty

Committee Member

Ann Karreth

Department Chair

Rebecca Evans

Project Description

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that suffers from a lack of a national identity as it has three main ethnic groups, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, who are all fighting for power. After the Bosnian war, which lasted from 1992-1995 and involved genocide that was committed against the Bosniaks, the ethnic divisions were further entrenched. These divisions were not helped by the provisions of the Dayton Peace Accords, which was the peace settlement that brought an end to the war. Dayton created an ethnocracy within Bosnia that places more importance on ethnic groups than national identity. In order to see whether or not these ethnic divisions could be overcome and how the youth of Bosnia were politically identifying, I conducted a survey at two international universities in Bosnia as well as two interviews and a focus group. Though the sample was limited, after analyzing the results it was determined that Bosnian youth are indeed overcoming ethnic divisions and starting to form in part a cohesive national identity.

Download

Share

COinS