The paper discusses the dynamics of state-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
with the focus on the analysis of the structural disadvantages of the concept
and its implementation in the post-conflict environment. The case of Bosnia
and Herzegovina represents a research case within this area study because it
is a heterogeneous and divided society, with complicated historical and
ongoing relations between local political actors, the complex structure of
the political system, and the increasingly contested role of the
international factor in the statebuilding process. The analysis of the local
political dynamics established during the state-building process clearly
shows the conflict between the international and local actors. The
performance of the High Representative as the most important international
actor in the state-building process has caused the increasing resistance of
local political actors to the implementation of the state building. The
author emphasizes that the legitimacy deficit and the lack of accountability
of the international community, the domination of the authoritarian mode of
governance, and the insistence on an integrative strategy that neglects the
positions, interests and motives of local actors are the major causes of the
failure of the international community project. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina
still heavily depends on the international actors, the failure of the
state-building process would have far-reaching negative consequences for the
political stability and the future of the state. [Project of the Serbian
Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no.
179029: Srbija u savremenim medjunarodnim odnosima: Strateski pravci razvoja i
ucvrscivanja polozaja Srbije u medjunarodnim integrativnim procesima
-spoljnopoliticki, medjunarodni ekonomski, pravni i bezbednosni aspekti]
Colonizing Workers: Labor, Race, and U.S. Military Governance in the Southern Philippines