Bosnia Charges Genocide: Moral Claims and the Politics of State-building in a Divided Society

Authors

  • Maja Catic

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cbp.2011.161

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between moral claims and political demands made by the Bosniak elites against the backdrop of Bosnia’s Genocide Case at the International Court of Justice. The article demonstrates how in the post-Dayton period, the Genocide Case became an integral element of the statebuilding strategy seeking the constitutional and territorial overhaul of the Dayton Bosnian state and the restoration of the pre-Dayton, unitary state, consistent with the interests and the identity of the Bosniak majority. Situating the Genocide Case in the realm of the ‘politics of entitlement’ characteristic of many divided societies, this article argues that the Bosniak statebuilding strategy compounds the challenges faced by Bosnia’s post-conflict, divided society.

Author Biography

Maja Catic

Dr. Maja Catic is an Assistant Professor at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. She holds a BA in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto (2000), an MA in Russian and East  European Studies from the University of Toronto (2002), and a Ph. D. in Political Science from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA (2009). Her research  focuses on the politics of statebuilding in divided societies, especially on internationally-sponsored statebuilding; nationalism and ethnic conflict; politics of memory; and various aspects of comparative genocide studies.

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Published

2011-12-21