Multinational Federalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Soeren Keil

Extract

The book contributes to our understanding of the concept of federalism by developing a new model of federalism and federation, “imposed federalism” and “internationally administrated federation.” The model is empirically based on the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) since the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995. By this model, the author wishes to establish a dialogue between the rich literature on federalism and the scientific literature on conflict management, conflict resolution, and peace building.

The book opens with a valuable discussion on the theoretical concept of multinational federalism and its applications in highly divided societies. Federalism is a particularly useful instrument to manage different nations within the borders of a single state, to consolidate the different national groups which share one single polity. Multinational federalism is, therefore, an appropriate tool of peaceful conflict management in ethnically or nationally divided states, a way to manage the aspirations of different nations within the borders of one state.