Bosnia: No War, No Peace
by Robert E. Blobaum, Ph.D.
The author is a professor of European history at WVU.
Two Yugoslav experiments to form and maintain a multinational state in southeastern Europe have come and gone in the twentieth century. The first Yugoslavia, created from the wreckage of World War I, came crashing down in 1941. The second Yugoslavia, forged together by the Yugoslav communist party following its successful seizure of power at the end of World War II, collapsed in 1991. In both instances, the failed experiments were followed by brutalizing civil wars. From 1941-1945 and again from 1992-1995, Bosnia became the primary killing field in triangular conflicts whose victims numbered in the millions.
Why Bosnia? Geographically, Bosnia
occupied an unfortunate position at the center of the former Yugoslavia.
Politically, Bosnia served as a microcosm of the larger Yugoslav
state idea. With a population consisting of a small plurality
of Bosniak Muslims, along with substantial Serb and Croat minorities,
Bosnia and its fate were closely linked to the ability of Serbs
and Croats to coexist within the larger Yugoslav federation. The
failure of the Yugoslav experiment was bound to transform multinational
Bosnia into the major area of conflict between Serbs and Croats,
as well as between these two nations and the Bosniak Muslims.
The origins of the recent war in Bosnia can be traced to the
steady disintegration of the League of Yugoslav Communists following
the death of the party's leader, Josip Broz Tito, in 1980. Competing
and mutually irritating nationalisms were not long in coming to
the political fore, especially in Serbia and Croatia. As communist
rule collapsed throughout Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980s,
nationa politicians, many of them former communists, came
to dominate Yugoslav politics. When Croatiawhich itself
contained a large Serb minority seceded from Yugoslavia
in 1991, a Serbo-Croat war broke out. In the summer of 1992, that
war inevitably spread from Croatia to Bosnia, whose Muslim-dominated
government had also declared its independence from Belgrade.
When the Bosnian war ended in 1995, it left in its wake 250,000 dead and three million refugees. U.S. intervention, particularly its forceful actions in bringing the warring parties to Dayton, Ohio, in the fall of 1995, eventually achieved a formal end to the war. Up to that point, however, the role of the United States, indeed of the entire international community, had left much to be desired.
Although the war has ended, peace remains an illusion for the peoples of Bosnia. Important parts of the Dayton Accords, including the return of refugees to their former homes, economic reconstruction, and the establishment of democratic and plura political structures, have not been realized. Meanwhile, the traditional divisions among Serbs, Croats, and Muslims, transformed into bitter hatreds and irredentism by the recent war, show no sign of abating.
Therefore, the question of the international community's commitment to keeping the peace in Bosnia is a crucial one. Only time will tell whether international and, especially, American resolve will be of sufficient duration to make peace a reality for all peoples in this former Yugoslav republic.
On August 19, 1995, a French armored vehicle wound its way along a mountain road on the way to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo. Inside were five American diplomats headed to a round of peace talks, and three French soldiers. One of the Americans, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robert C. Frasure, was accustomed to the mountainous terrain. He had grown up in Morgantown, West Virginia, and been a student at West Virginia University.
Up ahead, a convoy approached Frasure's vehicle on the narrow Mount Igman road. His driver pulled onto the shoulder to make room, not realizing that heavy rains had weakened it. The ground gave way. Those in another armored vehicle following behind watched in horror and disbelief as the vehicle carrying Frasure and his companions slid into a ravine below, tumbled hundreds of yards, and caught fire.
This was the end of Robert Frasure's life, and those of two other American diplomats and one of the French soldiers. Several days later, Frasure's body was flown along with those of his colleagues to Washington, D.C. During a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Secretary of State Warren Christopher remembered Frasure as "an irreplaceable colleague and a valued friend."The U.S. peace plan for Bosnia "drew heavily on Bob's insight and on his wisdom," Christopher said. "He helped shape its elements and he gave all his energy to fulfilling its promise.
"One day the shells will stop falling in Bosnia, the minefields will be cleared, and the terrible cycle of needless violence and death in Bosnia will finally come to an end," he said. "When it
does, it will be due to devoted peacemakers like Bob [Frasure]."
—Tony Cook
Key Players Gather in Morgantown
In a symposium dedicated to the memory of Robert C. Frasure, a blue-ribbon panel of experts gathered in WVU's Mountainlair on April 21 to talk about the ongoing dangers in Bosnia and other regions of the former Yugoslavia.
They included retired Admiral Leighton W. Smith, a former commander of U.S. Navy forces in Europe, who planned and commanded the NATO air and sea operations in Bosnia that resulted in negotiations leading to the Dayton Peace Accords. From December 1995 through July 1996, he commanded the 54,000 personnel from 35 nations who composed the Implementation Force (IFOR) created under the accords.
Another of the panes was Stephen P. Dawkins, a former senior Foreign Service officer who was Admiral Smith's principal policy advisor in Bosnia, serving there from December 1995 to September 1996.
H. E. Sven Alkalaj, the current Bosnian ambassador to the United States, also joined the discussion.
These three dignitaries were joined at the podium by Dr. Dennis I. Rusinow, a University of Pittsburgh professor who is an authority on Yugoslavia and its disintegration; Dr. Robert E. Blobaum, a WVU history professor who has published on topics related to central and eastern Europe in the 20th century; and Dr. Joe Hagan, a WVU political science professor with expertise in international relations and foreign policy. Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virginia, who traveled to Serbia, Croatia, and Montenegro in late 1996 on a fact-finding mission, gave a videotaped commentary.
A NATO-led military force needs to stay in Bosnia until a lasting peace is in place, the participants agreed. Smith said he agrees with President Clinton's decision to keep some 8,000 U.S. troops in Bosnia indefinitely as part of a 35,000-strong multinational peacekeeping force.
"I don't think all of the ingredients are in place to create a self-sustaining peace right now," said Smith.
Despite the existence of the Dayton Peace Accords, hostilities among the various factions persist, and several key elements of the treaty have yet to be implemented. Moreover, nationalism sweeping the Balkans has now spread to the Serbian province of Kosovo, where an Albanian majority is seeking to sever ties with its Serb rulers.
"Kosovo is very dangerous," Smith commented. "It has the potential of escalating very quickly. It has the potential of spreading beyond the boundaries of Kosovo in a very dangerous way."Ambassador Alkalaj said Bosnian leaders welcome a continued U.S. military presence in the region. "It is crucial to strengthening the peace in Bosnia," he said. Alkalaj said he is
optimistic about the prospects for a permanent peace in Bosnia.
"We have elections in September and I strongly believe it will be an excellent chance for bringing in democracy," he said.
The ambassador said he and Robert Frasure became good friends as they worked closely to bring peace among the factions involved in the Bosnian conflict.
In a videotaped address, Representative Rahall spoke about a student protest he witnessed in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1996. Students were protesting in the streets against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevich for not recognizing the results of a recent election.
"We're not the world's policemen, but we are seen as the representatives of democracy in the eyes of the world," Rahall said in throwing his support behind keeping U.S. troops in Bosnia
for now.
Professor Rusinow said the war in Bosnia was caused by ambitious politicians "waving the bloody flags of nationalism," and not by ancient ethnic hatreds.
While the Bosnian peace is actually an armistice and a reunited Bosnia-Herzegovina state as proposed is far removed from reality, the alternative would be more bloodshed, Rusinow said. "We have a fictitious state with a fictitious constitution, but I would say it is a necessary and useful fiction because it leaves the door open," he added.
Frasure's widow, Katharina, also attended the symposium with their daughter, Virginia. Another daughter, Sarah, did not attend.
"I feel very honored that we were invited to participate," she said. "For the healing process, it's very good. I think it is very important that my husband's work has not been forgotten."
The symposium was sponsored by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and its
departments of history and political science. About 80 faculty, students, and others attended.
Jim Davis
A WVU student majoring in French and international studies is the first recipient of a scholarship named in honor of Robert C. Frasure, the WVU alumnus ('64 BA, '65 MA) who gave his life to the search for peace in war-ravaged former Yugoslavia.
Melissa Thornhill, daughter of Dixie Thornhill of Shinnston and Jim Thornhill of Clarksburg, was named the winner of the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Scholarship for study abroad.
Thornhill, a senior Presidential Scholar, is using the scholarship to pay for her studies at the International University of Moscow this summer. She plans to pursue a career in international public service, either in the foreign service or an international organization helping developing countries.
The Frasure scholarship, made possible by an endowment established by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Political Science, goes to undergraduate students to use for study abroad, intern-ships, conference attendance, and other international, diplomatic, or foreign affairs activities.
Robert Frasure's father, the late Carl M. Frasure, Sr., was dean of arts and sciences at WVU from 1961 to 1969 and taught political science from 1927 to 1972. His mother, the late Louise Durham Frasure, taught junior high school English. His brother, Carl, is a WVU alumnus and a professor of political science at Salem-Teikyo University.
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