The interorganizational challenge of agricultural reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The case study reported below examines USAID's "Linking Agricultural Markets with Producers" program. This program complemented Bosnia and Herzegovina's overall sustainable agriculture policies. Implementing organizations quickly recognized that sustainability must be achieved not only from an environmental perspective, but in the interorganizational domain as well. Public, private and nonprofit players had to develop the social, economic and political infrastructure required for sustainable agricultural projects to succeed. These institutional changes were at times more difficult than the sustainable agriculture policies and practices they supported. Framed within LAMP's identification of constraints and proposed solutions for agricultural reform, we explored the interorganizational linkages required for success. We identified three distinct types: 1) those within the international community, 2) those within the local community and 3) those between international and local organizations. The case illustrates the institutional and managerial obstacles to and opportunities for implementing sustainable development reforms in transition settings.

Literature in Bosnia and Hercegovina till 19th Century in South Slav Context

Mr. Gajevic traced the development of literacy and literature in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the 12th to the 19th in relation to other south Slavic literatures and civilisations, studying their interrelations, links and influences. From the 12th to the 15th centuries, literature in this area developed under strong influence from the neighbouring South Slavic countries, which were directly connected with more developed foreign cultures and civilisations. The literatures of these countries had differing religious and cultural backgrounds, some developing under Byzantine and Orthodox influence and others as a part of Latin civilisation and the Catholic religion. This led to different and sometimes contradictory literary, religious and other influences on Bosnia and Herzegovina, making spiritual and religious unity for the country virtually impossible. Under the influence of the Bosnian state and church, however, there were signs of a search for compromise, leading to some mixing of the difference traditions. Following the Turkish conquest, however, three denominational communities (Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim) developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and this became the general framework for life, including literature. This led to three separate literary traditions - Serb-Orthodox, Croat-Catholic and Bosniac-Islamic. This internal disintegration of Bosnian literature did however facilitate the process of integration of some of its denominational traditions with similar traditions in other countries. The third aspect considered in the research was the genesis and expansion of vernacular and folk literature from Bosnia and Herzegovina throughout the South Slavic areas and its contribution to the language and literature integration of four peoples - Serbs, Croats, Bosniacs and Montenegrins. Of special interest here were the aspirations of the Catholic church to establish the Bosnian language as the common South Slavic literary language for its religious and propaganda activities, and the contribution of Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic to the effort to establish the "Bosnian language" as the common literary language of the South Slavic peoples.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Building a Film/TV Production Industry to Boost its Economy and Unite its Divided Cultures

This paper discusses how Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) can boost its stalled economy by generating jobs and increasing film-tourism, while simultaneously helping unite its culturally divided nation, by building a film/TV production industry looking to Northern Ireland's successful model following its similarly violent history. Evidence is presented substantiating that BiH has the infrastructure and workforce from which to grow a film/TV production industry, but it must be built through large-scale foreign productions like Northern Ireland did with Game of Thrones. Examining studies conducted by industry experts, strategies are offered for building a competitive and sustainable film/TV production industry in BiH. Results reveal more research is needed evidencing film/TV production can unify people from different ethno-religious/political groups in post-conflict societies.

Dalmatia, Sclavonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Servia, et Istria: distributa in singulares ditiones et diœceses, una cum Republica Ragusana, et circumjacentibus regionibus, Hungaria, Venetiis, statu ecclesiastico, Napoli et Macedonia

Venundantur per Gerardum et Leonardum Valk, cum Priv.

Sclavonia, Croatia, Bosnia cum Dalmatiæ parte

per Gerardum Mercatorem cum privilegio.

EU Conditionality on Nationality-Sensitive Matters in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Promoting Democracy or Maintaining the Status Quo? EDAP 05/2013

This paper will analyse the impact of the EU conditionality in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and its efficacy in promoting democratic changes in this country. It will be argued that as BiH is a unique case, its constitutional constraints must be taken into account because every reform that affects the difficult balance between the three main ethno-religious groups of BiH is perceived as a nationality-sensitive issue and is therefore vulnerable to political pressure. With reference to two specific situations where EU has demanded the BiH political elites to adopt EU-compatible reforms, namely the police reform process and the implementation of the Sejdić and Finci ruling, it will be argued that the use of the conditionality tool has increased inter-ethnic polarization among the political parties, thus preventing Bosnia and Herzegovina from moving forward in the EU integration process.

Bosnia, Kosovo and the EU: Is Accession Possible without Full Sovereignty?

Bosnia and Kosovo are the only two members of the EU enlargement zone that have never tried to apply for EU membership, given that both are too far from complying with the required minimum standards. But besides lacking basic capacities, these two potential candidates share another common feature: both are limited, to different degrees, in their national sovereignty. This lack of sovereignty not only limits the capacity of the potential candidates to negotiate or to enter into agreements with the EU; it also undermines their readiness to undertake serious reforms. The EU tries to dodge the political blockades that are the root cause of the problem by focusing on the technical issues; this might provide a temporary relief but cannot substitute a realistic accession perspective, which is currently absent. However, without this perspective, the EU’s ‘normative power’ in these countries will continue to erode – which bears the risk that both Kosovo and Bosnia will, in the end, try to solve existing problems through unilateral measures, such as partition. Given its lack of ability to provide alternatives, the EU has to realistically consider such outcomes and think about the possible consequences.

La Bosnie, le Kosovo et l’UE: une adhésion est-elle possible en l’absence d’une pleine souveraineté? = Bosnia, Kosovo and the EU: Is Accession Possible without Full Sovereignty?

No abstract.