Federalism as a Means of Peace-Building: The Case of Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina

As federalism offers a compromise between a unitary state and secession, it plays a prominent role in agreements on terminating civil wars between ethnically-defined parties to the conflict. This article examines the impact of federalism on peace-building in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. It argues that in the chosen case federalism in conjunction with a consociational democracy, peacekeeping troops, and the prospect of integration into the European Union brought about a partial success of peace-building. Although the federal system did not work well, it seems plausible that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be worse off with a unitary state or a partition.