HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/crsmthabdsl0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Order Code RS22324
Updated August 3, 2006
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Bosnia: Overview of Current Issues
Julie Kim
Specialist in International Relations
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
Over ten years since the signing of the Dayton accords that ended the Bosnian war,
Bosnia-Herzegovina is in a transitional state from post-Dayton peace implementation
to Euro-Atlantic integration. In November 2005, the United States hosted a meeting
with Bosnia's collective leadership to commemorate Dayton's 10'h anniversary. In
Washington, Bosnia's leaders pledged to carry out major constitutional reforms to
strengthen Bosnia's central state institutions; however, a reform package narrowly failed
to pass Bosnia's legislature in April 2006. Upcoming elections in October 2006 are
considered crucial for the next stage of Bosnia's development, although they will occur
under the Dayton constitutional structure. Reflecting Bosnia's progress to date and a
broad international consensus, the international community plans to substantially reduce
its presence and role in Bosnia. This report provides an overview of prominent current
issues concerning Bosnia and may be updated. For further background information, see
CRS Report RL32392, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Issues for U.S. Policy, by Steven
Woehrel.
Introduction and U.S. Policy
The Dayton peace agreement,1 reached in November 1995 with U.S. leadership,
ended a brutal three and one-half year ethnic and territorial conflict in Bosnia-
Herzegovina that erupted after the dissolution of the state of Yugoslavia. The Dayton
agreement outlined a common state of Bosnia and Herzegovina comprised of two entities,
the Bosniak (Muslim)-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska (RS), under the
authority of an international representative and a NATO-led peacekeeping presence.
Central Bosnian governmental institutions include a three-member presidency, Prime
Minister and Council of Ministers, and bicameral state Parliament. Under Dayton, central
governing powers were kept weak, with many governing functions remaining at the
Federation and RS entity level, which have their own governments and parliaments.
Congressional Research Service + The Library of Congress
1 Full text of the Dayton accords can be found at [http://www.oscebih.org]. The constitution is
in Annex 4. The accords were signed in Paris on December 14, 1995.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/crsmthabdsl0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)