Word: war
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...provisions of the U.S.-brokered Dayton Agreement that ended the war in 1995 was that Bosnia would be split into two largely self-governing regions - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, made up mostly of Bosnian Muslims and Croats, and the Republika Srpska, made up mostly of Serbs. For years, the current leader of Bosnia's Serbs, Milorad Dodik, has vowed to hold a vote on the future status of the Republika Srpska. Now, as Bosnia lurches toward elections in October, it looks increasingly likely he'll make good on that threat, calling into question the future of a multi...
...known as Bosniaks, say that doesn't matter - they see the mere act of holding a referendum as an intentional provocation. "It's meaningless in its substance," said Kurt Bassuener, of the Democratization Policy Council, a U.S.-based democracy advocacy group. "But the act is very meaningful." The Bosnian war, in fact, was sparked by a referendum on independence from Yugoslavia that was overwhelmingly supported by Bosniaks and Croats, but boycotted by Serbs. (Read about Bosnia's Islamic revival...
...Despite the bitter legacy of the war, Bosnia made strides in the first decade of its existence toward increased cooperation between the country's three ethnic groups and a greater centralization of powers. But in the run-up to the 2006 elections, the country saw a spike in nationalist rhetoric from both Bosniaks and Serbs - and the tenuous détente was derailed. This was when Dodik, who had previously been considered a moderate by many in the international community, began promising an independence referendum. Since that time, Bosnia has been virtually paralyzed...
...successor to the Communist Party and the closest thing Bosnia has to a multi-ethnic party, warns that Bosniaks and Croats would not accept partition. "The lesson is that ethnic cleansing is a legitimate form of state building," he says. (Read: "Karadzic a No-Show at His Bosnia War-Crimes Trial...
...voters go to the polls on Sunday for Iraq's third parliamentary election, the fragile stability of a country still recovering from a vicious civil war hangs in the balance. Iraq's leaders have so far been unable to resolve central issues regarding the shape of the Iraqi state - oil sharing, the boundaries of disputed territories, and the balance of power between the central government and the regions. The surge of U.S. troops and the deployment of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces bought time for another shot at political reconciliation. But the window for national compromise is closing fast, with...