ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF PEACE IN POST-CONFLICT BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Bosnia has undergone a prolonged and complex post-conflict recovery process. Peacebuilding literature in this context has accounted for political dynamics, while all too often omitting economic factors. Consequently, analysis of peacebuilding and development in Bosnia has been siloed since the country suspended post-war reconstruction activities in the early 2000s. In order to fill an analytic gap in the literature of peacebuilding in Bosnia, this study will examine the economic determinants of conflict risks post-Dayton. Quantitative and qualitative research methods have been applied to evaluate the ways in which economic factors influence post-war conflict risks in the country. We argue that within the national context, economic motivations have informed bargaining relationships that have produced conflictual discourse. Within the local context, economic conditions appeared to both reinforce and mitigate structural violence. Vertical and horizontal conflict have thus become institutionalized throughout Bosnia, creating a turbulent environment for potential reforms, policies, and interventions. Education reform and tax reform emerge as two examples of piecemeal interventions that could incrementally improve economic conditions while mitigating conflict risks.