From Dayton to Dysfunction

 

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From Dayton to Dysfunction

Five numbers that suggest Bosnia is becoming a failed state.

By Ginanne Brownell | Newsweek Web Exclusive 

Oct 15, 2009

Remember Bosnia? The country that fought a three-year civil war in the 1990s with 100,000 dead continues its downward slide. Since the Dayton peace accord, which ended the war in 1995, Bosnia has been divided into two entities—one called the Republika Srpska (RS) with a Serbian majority and the other a federation of Muslims and Croats. The leader of the RS, Milorad Diodik, has lately stepped up his calls for secession because he feels the Serbs have been marginalized by both the government and the international community. American and European officials are waging an intense diplomatic campaign to head off what could be serious political trouble.

But the real story is Bosnia's dysfunction as a state. While many Bosnians have long hoped to join the European Union, the national government has been unable to stand on its own feet since the end of the war. Analysts say the country is looking more and more like a failed state. Here are five numbers that suggest they're right.

 

·         $14 billion. That's the amount of money the international community spent on reconstruction of Bosnia between 1996 and 2007, according to the U.S. State Department—more per capita than the amount spent to rebuild Germany and Japan after World War II. Yet much of the country remains in ruins, including the beautiful Ottoman-era national library destroyed by Serb shelling.

·         Negative 3. That's Bosnia's GDP so far this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Just three years ago, the figure stood at 6.9 percent.

·         41.6. That's the percentage of working-age Bosnians who are jobless—at least according to estimates. Many of them are probably "employed" in the country's sprawling gray and black markets.

·         500,000. The number of illegal weapons scattered among a populace of 4 million, according to the United Nations Development Program. In January the country's top official for the fight against organized crime and terrorism was arrested in Croatia, suspected of illegal-arms trafficking.

·         Nearly 100 percent. The number of Bosnians who believe corruption in their country is endemic, according to the World Bank.

Apparently, they know what they're talking about.

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