Nothing new here. If Banac wants some new ideas and analysis regarding the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he needs to start logging onto here to get some input.
Source:
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/x ... feature-02An interview with Croatia's Ivo Banac
Ivo Banac is one of Croatia's leading intellectuals and a professor emeritus at Yale University. He was a leader of Croatia's Liberal Party, a member of parliament, a cabinet minister, and, until recently, served as president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee.
Banac, known as one of the most vocal critics of former President Franjo Tudjman and former Prime Minister Ivica Racan for their policy towards BiH, shared his views on the current situation in BiH and possible ways out of the country's political impasse.
SETimes: What is your assessment of the political situation in BiH?
Ivo Banac: The situation in BiH is volatile and being inflamed by various interests who are bent on making it worse. At the heart of the crisis is Milorad Dodik's plan to advance the partition of BiH.
Dodik's strategy is twofold: to undermine every joint BiH institution by fostering entity dualism, thereby ascribing to the Serbian entity in BiH, Republika Srpska, all the attributes of a separate state; to promote conflicts between Croats and Bosniaks in the Federation BiH to create an impression that RS is stable and the Federation is tottering.
SETimes: What is the position of Croats in BiH?
Banac: The Croat population of BiH is the most prosperous. All real grievances such as the methods of electing the Croat member of the state presidency, or the number of Croat ministers in various cabinets, can be resolved within the Federation BiH without any outside meddling. The Croats' position in the Federation ranges from fair in the predominantly Bosniak areas to dominant in parts of Herzegovina. By contrast, in RS the Croats are practically non-existent.
The two Croat parties in BiH -- HDZ BiH and HDZ BiH 1990 -- promote the Croatian "national question" and an alleged "institutional inequality" as the country's main problem. This suits Dodik perfectly, who also uses every opportunity to blame the Bosniak parties for anti-Croat bias.
SETimes: What other Croatian political forces within BiH shape politics there?
Banac: Two smaller parties -- the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP BiH) and People's Prosperity Through Work Party (NSRB). They promote inter-ethnic co-operation and have joined the so-called Platform Coalition in the Federation BiH, together with the multi-national Social Democrats and the Bosniak SDA. These parties recently formed the Federation of BiH government, in which HSP BiH's member Zivko Budimir was prime minister.
By contrast, the two HDZ parties have refused since October 2010 to constitute cantonal governments in the three cantons that they control in order to prevent forming a Federation and a BiH government. Their obstructionist policies are meant to demonstrate that BiH has no future. Some politicians make real efforts to foster hostilities between the Croats and Bosniaks and publicly say that a war is brewing. That is why the responsible Croat politicians in BiH, as well as Croatia, ought to double their efforts to prevent further slipping into instability.
SETimes: What is Croatia's stance towards BiH?
Banac: In an effort to have a high profile in the region, President Ivo Josipovic has made a number of clumsy errors in BiH. He encouraged the two HDZ parties and made a number of nods to Dodik, treating him as a veritable head of state. The Croatian government has been more moderate, but its ambassador to Sarajevo, Tonci Stanicic, has made reckless statements, challenging the procedure that brought about the Federation government.
SETimes: How should Croatia improve its approach towards BiH?
Banac: Zagreb ought to be encouraged to co-ordinate its policies with the international community. The problem is the international community is also divided in its attitudes towards BiH.
SETimes: What can we realistically expect next in BiH?
Banac: Unless the US invests more effort in BiH, the situation will deteriorate. The Dayton system is itself threadbare. A new BiH initiative is necessary.
