Balkan Academic Book Review 13/2000
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Steven L. Burg; Paul S. Shoup, The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic
Conflict and International Intervention. M.E. Sharpe: 1999, 520 pp.
Tables, maps, bibliography, index. $52.95 (Hardcover), ISBN 1-56324-308-3.

Reviewed by Igor Prochazka. Email: igorprochazka@...
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The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the largest tragedies of the
last decade of the twentieth century. It represented a fierce challenge to
the new order that was shaping up in Europe after the end of the Cold War.
The European Union, the United States, and NATO were all heavily involved
in attempts to bring the fighting in the former Yugoslavia to an end. The
stability of Western alliances and viability of international organizations
dealing with the conflict were all brought into question by this conflict.
Thus, the war in Bosnia surpasses its regional importance and deserves much
attention of scholarly community. Many works have been written on the topic
of the break-up of Yugoslavia and subsequent war in Bosnia but one can
easily argue that The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and
International Intervention by Steven L. Burg and Paul S. Shoup is the best
account of the conflict taking place in this ethnically mixed country in
the period 1992-1995.
The work was published four years after the signing of the Dayton Peace
Agreement and it has an important advantage over earlier accounts of the
war - the time distance. As a result, the authors have been able to produce
a very well balanced and thorough piece abundant with a great variety of
information covering historical, cultural, political, and military
dimensions of the conflict in Bosnia as well as different international
peace efforts to resolve it. Furthermore, Burg and Shoup offer detailed
analysis of behaviour and motivation of various domestic and international
actors throughout the crisis. Particular attention is devoted to the role
of the United States, the United Nations, and the European powers. The
strength of this work is that it strives to be fair to all sides.
The book itself is divided into two parts. The first half is devoted to an
examination of Bosnia-Herzegovina before the war broke out; the origins of
the conflict, including events in Croatia; and the major developments in
the war between 1992 and 1994, including the role of media, ethnic
cleansing, and the question of genocide. The second half is devoted to a
detailed description and analysis of the efforts of the international
community to resolve the conflict. In the end, the authors provide the
reader with conclusions regarding the war, Western responses to it, and the
lessons to be learnt from it. Also, the book includes guides to sources and
documentation, extensive tabular data, and over thirty maps.
Overall, one must be impressed how knowledgeable and well-documented this
book is. It is ideal for anyone interested in the history of the war in
Bosnia, for foreign policy specialists attempting to draw lessons from
efforts to resolve an ethnic conflict, for analysts of international
politics wishing to gain understanding of a conflict that helped define the
international agenda in the post-Cold War era, for scholars, students, etc.
The book is simply a must reading for anyone studying or dealing with the
recent history of and current situation in this part of Southeastern
Europe, that is the western Balkans.
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Book available at: http://www.mesharpe.com/
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© 2000 Balkan Academic News.

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