Bosnian Studies: Journal for Research of Bosnian Thought and Culture
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Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995 and International Diplomacy
No full textThe paper discusses the relations in the Yugoslav federation following the renaissance of nationalism and the period of post-communist emancipation, the revival of hegemonic projects and the effect they had on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the federation had disintegrated. Parallel to the military and political events that took place in the period between 1992 and 1995, the paper also deals with the activities of international diplomacy
Post-war Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996-2006
No full textThe situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the post-war period between 1996 -- 2006 in the education sector has been analysed. Despite many efforts by local and international experts and institutions for physical reconstruction and further development the fragmented subsystems could not attain any major results, but continued to lag behind the world trends and standards
On Implementation and Revision of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
No full textThe current constitutional system cannot reintegrate Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also, it cannot revive the Bosnian and Herzegovinian multilateral society (on the contrary, it is systematically destroying it). Furthermore, the current constitutional system cannot provide for human rights and freedoms according to the so-called ‘European standards’. To make the paradox complete, it cannot provide for collective national rights of the so-called constitutive nations on the whole territory of B&H, nor can it protect the rights of the minorities and provide for the right of their participation in the government (‘the others’). Moreover, it cannot build a functional state organization, the rule of law, constitutionality, legality, equality, rules against discrimination, an adequate persecution of war criminals and verdicts on them, the return of refugees and displaced persons to their pre-war settlements, personal security and its citizens’ property security. When it comes to its participation in the government, this constitutional system cannot provide it even for the constitutive nations and especially the ‘other’ national minorities). Regarding the constitutional laws and rights, this constitutional system has inaugurated two kinds of Bosniaks, two kinds of Bosnian Serbs, and two kinds of Bosnian Croats….In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the declared human rights and freedoms (declared by the constitutions and international documents that are parts of the Constitution) are merely rights with no material value (‘nudum ius’) because there are no state instruments to protect and implement those rights and freedoms. More precisely, these instruments exist, not on the state level, but as entity-cantonal instruments. Bearing in mind the legal aim for the formation and existence of the entities (and cantons), it is clear that the implementation of human rights and freedoms (and non-discrimination) is opposite to that aim. Both the entities and cantons find their fundamental reason for existence in discrimination, primarily religious and national, as well as in the usurpation of an enormous amount of material riches by mono-national political parties and criminal national “elites”
Validity of the Dayton Peace Agreement in Light of Articles 53 and 64 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
No full textThe Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) ended the bloodshed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nonetheless, from the perspective of international law, many doubts about its validity remain. This article tries to shed light on this issue by examining whether the DPA, by establishing and/or recognizing two Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entities, stipulated a breach of ius cogens (direct line), and whether the DPA validated what could not be validated, that is a situation created by a breach of ius cogens (indirect line). In order to reach the conclusion, the article first examines what constitutes ius cogens in contemporary international law. The article, then, extensively examines the position of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, international practice and the International Law Commission draft articles on Responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts in this regard. It is concluded that the Dayton Peace Agreement provisions establishing the entities should be declared null and void, since they represent (1) the direct result of the acquisition of territory by force; and/or (2) the situation created by serious breach of obligations under peremptory norms (whether the already established ones or the emerging ones), and/or a situation in breach of obligations owed to the international community as a whole
The Bosnian Language - Linguistic Entity and Sociolinguistic Continuity
No full textIn this paper, the author is discussing certain linguistic principles and postulates that make relative the existance of the Bosnian language in terms of its special standard of linguistic expression, especially its very name. The paper points to the problems occuring because of these principles, their political nature and a need to confirm, from different linguistic (and non-linguistic) perspectives and valid criteria, the cultural, traditional and lingustic foundations of the Bosnian language
Advocating a New Approach to the Bosnian Middle Ages
No full textThe aim of this paper is to determine an approach for defi ning theses for the history of the Bosnian medieval historiography. In order to do this, at fi rst, it is necessary to defi ne the very concept of the Bosnian medieval period and its periodization. Furthermore, it is necessary to determine its basic characteristics, its relationship towards the overall history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as its relationship to the present times. Besides analyzing the results achieved so far, there have been given suggestions for a new approach in this fi eld. It has been suggested that, in addition to dealing with the new topics, it is also important to revise some already established viewpoints, as well as to make those that remained open until today clearer (there are still different viewpoints on the same issue). It is also necessary to solve some conceptual and methodological dilemmas that have sprung up from the approach to the Bosnian Middle Ages we have had until present
The Education System in Herzegovina during the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918-1929)
No full textDuring the early years of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (The Kingdom of SHS) the educational situation was very poor in Herzegovina. Low levels of literacy (in certain parts over 90%) combined with a small number of educational institutions, gave a negative image which was complicated even further by the lack of resources and sluggish state administration. From the mid-1920s, the situation took a turn for better. Building schools and literacy courses were important even if inadequate steps in solving the mounting problems in this area. The aim of this study, through an analytical-synthetic approach, is to contribute to the understanding of the education system in Herzegovina during the fi rst period of the Yugoslav monarchy (1918-1929). Furthermore, it aims to clarify the role of the state in creating an overall education milieu by analysing socio-political trends
The Bosnian Muslims and Islamic International Networks: "The Age of Conventions"
No full textDuring the period between two World wars several Pan-Islamic conferences were held. This paper aims to investigate a participation of Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) in these conferences and the echo these conferences had in Bosnian public life. Based on contemporary reports in periodicals, documents and relevant literature, it has been found that Bosnian Muslim delegates participated in two of these conferences in Jerusalem in 1931, and in Geneva 1935. They wanted to attend the Congress in Cairo in 1926, but were prevented by the Yugoslav authorities. Pan-Islamic conferences received a wide coverage in Bosnian Muslim press. Surprisingly, there were no detailed information on the activity of Bosnian Muslim delegates. Similarly, there were no tangible results of their participation for Muslims in Bosnia. The participation in these conferences could be seen as one of the manifestations of Pan-Islamism in Bosnia, a tendency which gradually lost its appeal in this country by the middle of the 20th century
Bosnian Frontiersmen from Krajina in Memory and Continuity of Tradition
No full textThe main topic of this paper are frontiersmen from Krajina, observed through memory, oral tradition and the process of globalization. Using selected examples, we have been following them from the period of the Ottoman Empire when Bosnian Muslims, Bosniaks, were appointed the main border keepers. Those who fought to defend Bosnian borders, and its frontiers which were the defending bastions of Bosnia and the Empire, have lived through memory and tradition, patriotically filling up the historical frame. In correlation between reality andtradition, norms which make the historical frame recognizeable in the community and oral tradition have been established. By identifying memory and oral history realized in oral literary forms and their prototypes, we reach the category of continuity of the Krajina tradition. Thus, through history, written by people, we reach the contemporary and the universal
Is the Slavic Antithesis Truly Slavic?
No full textA poetic figure later to become known as the Slavic Antithesis has been discussed since the 1830s. This figure consists of three parts: a question, negative answer and affirmative answer. Initially it was found in the oral poetry of Slav and especially South Slav peoples. Later, to a lesser extent, it was discovered in NeoGreek, German and Lithuanian poetry. In South Slavic poetry it was recorded in bugaršticas,1 which had originated in the 17th century. The author of this paper shows that it also frequently appears in all types of Romance oral poetry (Spanish, French, Catalonian and Portuguese), as well as in Albanian folk poetry. Its appearance has not been recorded by any of the researchers who have dealt with this issue. In addition, this poetic figure appeared much earlier in this form than it did in bugaršticas. It was found in the 12th century in Provencal as well as in Old French literature. Any 'racial' term related to it, therefore, should be excluded, accepting one of the terms such as the negative parallelism, negative analogy or negative comparison etc