Staying Involved in Bosnia Makes Sense for America

By R. Bruce Hitchner, for the Dayton Daily News

Should NATO forces, including U.S. troops, remain in Bosnia after June 1998, when the NATO Stabilization Force (SFOR) mandate ends?

That is the question being debated quietly but earnestly in Washington these days. At stake is not only peace in Bosnia and the viability of an expanded North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but also the moral underpinnings of American foreign policy.

Of late there has been growing sentiment in some quarters for an end to the U.S. military presence in Bosnia in June, followed by a negotiated partition of the country - in essence, an abandonment of the Dayton peace process.

The Dayton agreement has hardly been a perfect vehicle for building lasting peace in Bosnia. Among other things, it legitimized the wartime division of the country along ethnic lines. In addition, some of the key objectives of Dayton have not been achieved, notably the failure so far to arrest indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, and the continuing inability of most refugees to return home.

Dayton has achieved its primary purpose of stopping the war and laying the groundwork for peace. But where do we go from here?

Let us consider first the question of withdrawing U.S. troops next June. It is possible that the departure of American forces alone from Bosnia would not in itself lead to renewed conflict. But what, then, of all those noble phrases about American leadership?

Indeed, we need only be reminded that it was not until the United States became directly involved in Bosnia that four years of bloody warfare and genocide were halted. While it is misguided to think Bosnia is a society of implacable ethnic hatreds (polls consistently show that an overwhelming majority of people want to live together in peace), reconciliation and recovery will take time, and the United States is the only power capable of ensuring the necessary conditions for the former to be achieved.

The partition of Bosnia also might appear advantageous for American strategic interests, since it would supposedly separate the warring parties into their own ethnically pure, sovereign states and thus eliminate the need for the presence of NATO forces. But what, then, of our cherished national interest in promoting justice and human rights around the globe?

I, for one, could not possibly see how we could explain to the world (and ourselves) that we had given up promoting ethic and cultural diversity, religious toleration, the rule of law and the right to live without fear because it did not jibe with our strategic interests.

The fact of the matter is that our strategic interests are well-served by staying the course in Bosnia. Indeed, the new 'frontier' of NATO extends from Poland to the Aegean Sea on a line that passes through Bosnia. To abandon Bosnia now would be counterproductive to our efforts to build lasting security and cooperation in Europe.

Finally, it is not enough to justify our continued presence in Bosnia in terms of our self-interest as a nation; we also must find solutions that will permit Bosnia to survive. Talk of 'exit strategies' without a search for solutions to the problems that face that country does not make for good policy and will certainly not get us out of Bosnia soon.

A possible first step, in my view, would be to consider whether a stage has been reached in which some improvements might be made to Dayton. Are we inexorably bound, for example, to the Dayton model of a Bosnian state comprising two hostile semi-sovereign ethnic entities, each with is own army? Or should we not perhaps begin to start moving in the direction of an undivided sovereign state of Bosnia? We might also ask whether ethnic identity is the only viable way to define citizenship in the Bosnia created by Dayton.

In the end, it is critical that we continue to pursue the process, however imperfect, begun here in Dayton. This is why we have invited Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, U.S. Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard, and Vice President Ejup Ganic of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina to speak at the Hope Hotel today, the second anniversary of the initialling of the Dayton Peace Accords.

Their presence in this city will, we hope, give strength to those who wish to see Bosnia survive, prosper and continue its rich historical tradition of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity.

* R. BRUCE HITCHNER is the director of the Center for International Programs at the University of Dayton.