...Dakota Cody 2331381 SS-325 Prof. Grubb Nov 15, 2015 Causes and Effects of the Bosnian War Bosnia witnessed many atrocities within the early 1990’s. Genocide and other war crimes devastated the region on such a scale that was not seen since World War II. However, Genocide was the largest of the atrocities committed between the time of 1992 and 1995. There are both macro and micro level factors that had caused such a bloody conflict but mostly macro level. The macro level factors include a crisis, a social cleavage, and powerful bystanders. These three factors lead to the Bosnian civil between three different ethnic groups that are the Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs, and Croats. If not for these factors Bosnia would not have had this war and one hundred thousand plus people would not have been killed and close to two million people displaced during the war. The war had caused both economic and even more social problems. One of the major causes of the war was the breakup of Yugoslavia. With already years of tension built up from the differences in ethnicities, the breakup had caused a major crisis that was the final straw and tipped the balance and caused the war. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia had ceased to exist and had dissolved into its constituent states. In an article written by the Office of the Historian for the U.S. Department of State, it talks about the breakup of Yugoslavia and says, “Yugoslavia will cease to function as a federal state within...
Words: 1607 - Pages: 7
...Identification. The name Yugoslavia previously designated six republics (Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzogovia, Croatia, and Slovenia), but now includes just Serbia and Montenegro. The word means "land of the southern Slavs." Montenegro, which means "black mountain," takes its name from its rugged terrain. Within Serbia there are several national cultures. In addition to the dominant Serb tradition, there is a large Hungarian population in the northern province of Vojvodina, where Hungarian is the common language and the culture is highly influenced by Hungary (which borders the province to the north). In southern Serbia, the province of Kosovo is primarily Albanian, and has an Islamic culture that bears many remnants of the earlier Turkish conquest. Location and Geography. Serbia is a landlocked territory in the Balkan Peninsula of Eastern Europe, bordering Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania. Montenegro is to the west of Serbia, also bordering Bosnia and Herzogovina, Albania, and the Adriatic Sea. Serbia covers 34,136 square miles (88,412 square kilometers); Montenegro has an area of 5,299 square miles (13,724 square kilometers). Together they are slightly smaller than the state of Kentucky. The terrain varies widely. In the north there are fertile plains that produce most of Serbia's crops, as well as marshlands along the Sava and Danube Rivers. At the northern border, the Danube River runs along the Iron...
Words: 6477 - Pages: 26
...The Ethnic Cleansing Of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the International Community’s Failure to Prevent Genocide Brendan McElhaney November 2012 African American Studies 412 War Crimes And Genocide The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was an intricate and bloody conflict that resulted in the death of as many as 200,000 people.[1] The international response to the war was delayed; the actions of the Serbians against the Bosnians and Muslims were tacitly accepted by the major international players including the United States, Europe, and the United Nations. As U.S. Secretary of State James Baker said regarding the situation in Yugoslavia, “We don’t have a dog in that fight.”[2] This passive view of the situation in the Balkans was also demonstrated by the actions of the European Union, United Nations, and United States early on in the conflict. As the situation in Bosnia deteriorated, the international community took a passive approach to quelling the conflict. This apathy resulted because of involvement in past wars, politics, fear, misinformation, and an overall reluctance to act unilaterally. Only in the face of continued aggression by Serbians did the international community finally intervene and bring an end to one of the worst conflicts since WWII. Yet the ending of this saga actually rewarded Serbian aggression. Through various international mandates, policies, and conventions that were either completely ignored or enforced sporadically...
Words: 7451 - Pages: 30
...The Solution to Ethnic and Racial Civil Conflict Jacqueline Zhang GOVT 150W Introduction to International Politics Introduction Within a period of three months in 1994, an estimated five to eight hundred thousand people were killed as a result of civil war and genocide in Rwanda. Large numbers were physically and psychologically afflicted for life through maiming, rape and other trauma; over two million fled to neighboring countries and maybe half as many became internally displaced within Rwanda. This human suffering was and is incomprehensible. Similar ethnic and racial civil conflicts have deeply scarred countries and are threatening to break out in many places around the globe. Too much blood has been shed for ethnic and racial causes and too many have died in ethnic and racial wars. In accordance to the constructivist model of nationalism, identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflict. Definition For the purpose of demonstrating how identity (re)construction solves ethnic and racial civil conflicts, “solve” can be defined as 1) to explain and 2) to put an end to, settle. In addition, “explain” means to make clear the cause, origin or reason of. Furthermore, an ethnicity is a population of human beings whose members identify with each other, on the basis of a real or a presumed common genealogy or ancestry. The term race refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics...
Words: 2466 - Pages: 10
...Chapter 13 Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Nations, States, and Nation-States A. Logistics Students’ Time Requirements Activity 1: The Rise of Nationalism and the Fall of Yugoslavia Readings 60-90 minutes Fill in the blanks 75-90 minutes Activity 2: Iraqaphobia Readings 60-90 minutes Fill in the blanks 75-90 minutes The fill-in-the-blanks activity works very well as an in-class group project. It helps for students to be able to discuss the questions and readings with other students. If so, it is absolutely essential that students read the assigned articles in advance of the discussion. They will need to consult the readings to find pertinent passages, but if they are reading it for the first time during group work, they will either not finish or not contribute. I remind my students of this fact several times in the days leading up to the project. If students don’t finish during class, they can finish at home. If done in groups in class, you may wish to suggest that a different student act as recorder for each block of questions. Also, assign a different student to be the discussion leader/gatekeeper to keep the discussion on track and prevent any single individual from dominating the discussion. A third student could function as timekeeper. See Chapter 11 and 14 role-playing activities for further discussion of these tasks. Remind students that Balkan and Middle East politics are always changing and can get...
Words: 32987 - Pages: 132
...The Clash of Civilizations? by Samuel P. Huntington (SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON is the Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University. This article is the product of the Olin Institute's project on "The Changing Security Environment and American National Interests”. THE NEXT PATTERN OF CONFLICT WORLD POLITICS IS entering a new phase, and intellectuals have not hesitated to proliferate visions of what it will be -- the end of history, the return of traditional rivalries between nation states, and the decline of the nation state from the conflicting pulls of tribalism and globalism, among others. Each of these visions catches aspects of the emerging reality. Yet they all miss a crucial, indeed a central, aspect of what global politics is likely to be in the coming years. It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural. Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will be the battle lines of the future. Conflict between civilizations will be the latest phase of the evolution of conflict in the modern world. For a century and a half after the emergence of the...
Words: 9742 - Pages: 39
...The instances of genocide in the late 20th century stand as a testament to how unreliable the nation state can be when inalienable and human rights are concerned. As is shown in the case of Rwanda, non-state actors have taken steps to trample on these rights even when the victim technically has citizenship in a country. Additionally, the nation-state can reinforce the actions of the non-state actors through either sponsorship, or even inaction in the face of genocide. Civil society actors have taken steps to act where the nation-state has failed to do so out of what Ayers identifies as labeling the conflict as internal or a civil war. Ultimately, both Ayers and Power agree that labeling genocide as what it is, and taking other steps outside of raw military force can go a long way in preventing the atrocities of the 20th century. More specifically, since the nation-state alone cannot be trusted to handle these situations, civil society must take steps to better the diplomacy of the nation-state, along with creating an international community that can work together to remedy the problems of human and inalienable rights violations. In her article “Raising the Cost of Genocide,” Samantha Power examines the historical response to genocide by discussing the ways in which western powers have avoided responsibility for 20th century atrocities. She begins her article by explaining the invention of the word genocide as a word meant to “send shudders down the spines of those who heard it...
Words: 6387 - Pages: 26
... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Introduction On April the 6th 1994, the Hutu population of Rwanda attacked the Tutsi minority. In the short period of hundred days approximately 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsi’s, were killed. Even the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which was adopted in 1948 by the United Nations did not prevent this genocide. Not even the U.S., the remaining superpower after the end of the Cold War and a firm believer of Wilsonian idealism, remained immobile and even urged the UN to refrain from action. Therefore the main research question will be: which factors contributed to the non-intervention by the United States in the Rwandan genocide?...
Words: 3183 - Pages: 13
...Development in Social Environment 2 Human diversity is the difference among people and how those differences make an effect on society. These differences can include biological, social, and cultural differences. Diversity and Cultural Competence Two recent events have made the need for “cultural competence”— understanding the specific cultural, language, social and economic nuances of particular people and families—more important than ever. One is the civil rights movement that began in the 1950s, in which African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities, and other minority groups alerted the country to their distinct identities and long histories of oppression. The other is the growing number of new immigrants to this country, who bring with them unique cultural, language, religious, and political backgrounds. Histories of internal displacement within their own countries, torture, political oppression, and extreme poverty abound among immigrant communities. Melding these backgrounds with the history, experiences, and expectations of U.S. born ethnic and diverse populations creates both challenges and opportunities for social workers. It is fair to say that both helping professionals and society at large have a long way to go to gain cultural competence. Fortunately, social workers represent a group of service providers with a longstanding history of understanding both people’s differences and the impact of social injustices on their well being. Today...
Words: 1146 - Pages: 5
...plays a significant part in this misconception, which is why it is important to recognize when reading articles that address problems such as discrimination based on unequal pay in the workplace. For instance, Shafi Musaddique is the author of, “We Need to Address Our Ethnic Pay Gap with Mandatory Reporting – Just as We're Doing with Gender”, an article in which they advocate that the racial pay gap should be equally as emphasized as the gender pay gap. This article can be seen as biased due to the...
Words: 1750 - Pages: 7
...EMMERGING ROLE OF UN IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FUTURE CONFLICTS INTRODUCTION Since the end of cold war, the world has been in a constant flux of changes, resulting into serious security risks. These risks range from border disputes to ethno-religious conflicts, most of which are likely to cause regional and global destabilization. In today’s unipolar world no single or group of states has the capacity to counter balance by themselves and therefore, the world is looking more towards United Nations (UN) for establishing World peace. The Collective power to shape the future is greater now than ever before. The world needs a new vision that can mobilize people everywhere to achieve higher levels of cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The foundation of UN some fifty five years ago was an expression by world leaders towards a new world wherein the international behavior and governance was about to begin. The domination of power blocks and less respect for use of UN forum for vested interest has curved the UN role. The potentialities of international organization led by UN are immense in this regard though not utilized to its full potential. At this new millenium every ones expectations are of more peaceful world order. But the natures of conflicts in future days are likely to be more diverse and complicated to be handled by UN. The causes of these conflicts will be mainly of race for nuclear power, global militarization, prolong economic sanction on...
Words: 12831 - Pages: 52
...and the choice to see something wrong and having the power to stop it, but choose not to. Many have written that it is deep seeded hatred passed on from generation to generation that always sits in the back of the minds of those committing genocide, things that may or may not have happened. Other scholars write that it is cultural differences that are ignored until a leader or group uses them for their own gain. (Churchill, R. P. 2014) Whatever the reasons, it is always the minority on the losing end, the bully mentality of a few whirling up hatred for someone else until everyone is in a frenzy and the rhetoric seems real, the threat conjured up is real, and the only action to keep things safe and secure is to remove the problem by any means. This is how genocide starts. But one cannot simply begin a process like this without a catalyst there needs to be turmoil to help legitimize the acts, and the best legitimizer is war. War has always been an excuse for genocide, during World War I the Turks used the war as an excuse to deport and massacre over one million Christian Armenians. (Abed, M. 2015) Was this something that just happened because of war, or...
Words: 2605 - Pages: 11
...Question 1: In your view, what are the three most important mechanisms for applying principles of truth and reconciliation at the local community level? You may wish to revisit the case study on Northern Ireland in Week Seven as support for your arguments. Provide examples to reinforce your main points. Anyone who has suffered from genocide, war crimes, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and general crimes against humanity have the right to truth and reconciliation. Establishment of the truth in the case of crimes is absolutely necessary for: Discovering the real information about crimes and their causes to those who were directly affected by the crime (to make their sufferings of people publicly recognized). In addition, establishment of the truth can help to circumvent false accusations; Relatives and friends (of people who are missing or who were killed) in order to find out what really happened to their loved ones, and to establish their whereabouts; The society in which the crimes happened, to know the circumstances and reasons that led to violations, and not to allow to repeat the commitments of such events in the future, to recognize and...
Words: 1869 - Pages: 8
...research centres, UNRISD aims to promote original research and strengthen research capacity in developing countries. Current research themes include: Crisis, Adjustment and Social Change; Socio-Economic and Political Consequences of the International Trade in Illicit Drugs; Environment, Sustainable Development and Social Change; Integrating Gender into Development Policy; Participation and Changes in Property Relations in Communist and Post-Communist Societies; and Political Violence and Social Movements. UNRISD research projects focused on the 1995 World Summit for Social Development included Rethinking Social Development in the 1990s; Economic Restructuring and Social Policy; Ethnic Diversity and Public Policies; Social Integration at the Grassroots: The Urban Dimension; and The Challenge of Rebuilding War-torn Societies. A list of UNRISD’s free and priced publications may be...
Words: 19278 - Pages: 78
...for the next generation, but this is not the reason why we should cut off the history to the next generation. The reason why I decided to write about this topic is to share with you about what really happen and what is happening in Africa that people in the USA don't know. I signed for this class because I thought that it would be interesting to share the issues that other people are facing in world and particularly in the Congo where I am from. I don't have the full accuracy of everything written in this essay but I will share some researches that other people did through the issues and my own experience through the issues. Introduction Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. The term Genocide has been defined by many people through out the 20 th century, but the UN defined it in 1946 after the holocaust as: A denial of the right of existence of entire human groups, as homicide is the denial of the right to live of individual human beings; such denial of the right of existence shocks the conscience of mankind, and is contrary to moral law and to the spirit and aims of the United Nations. The General Assembly, therefore, affirms that genocide is a crime under international law whether the crime is committed on religious, racial, political or any other grounds. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948...
Words: 3646 - Pages: 15
