Looking Back, Looking Forward in Conversation with Wolfgang Petritsch

This article examines the persistence of political stasis in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) three decades after the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA). Drawing on a dialogue between Sumantra Bose and former High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch, it interrogates the complex interplay between domestic ethno-nationalist politics and international interventionism. Despite early post-Dayton optimism marked by institutional improvements and minority returns, BiH’s post-war trajectory stalled due to entrenched nationalist elites, limited cross-ethnic party development, and an over-reliance on international governance mechanisms using the “Bonn Powers.” The analysis highlights three key factors: the counterproductive imposition of reforms by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), the international community’s failed attempts to cultivate “non-nationalist” actors, and an integrationist international agenda ill-suited to BiH’s multinational reality. Reflecting on key issues such as the unresolved “Croat question,” the article underscores how international overreach and collusive behaviour among ethno-nationalist elites reinforced divisions and obstructed BiH’s path towards the European Union (EU).