Building a Multiethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 1 January 2006, soldiers from across Bosnia and Herzegovina  gathered to mark the official formation of a unified army; and yet,  little over a decade before, these men had been each other's adversaries  during the vicious conflict which left the Balkan state divided and  impoverished. Building a Multi-Ethnic Military in Post-Yugoslav Bosnia  and Herzegovina offers the first analysis of the armed forces during  times of peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This  sophisticated study assesses Yugoslav efforts to build a multi-ethnic  military during the socialist period, charts the developments of the  armies that fought in the war, and offers a detailed account of the  post-war international initiatives that led to the creation of the Armed  Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At this point, the military became  the largest multi-ethnic institution in the country and was regarded as a  model for the rest of Bosnian society to follow. As such, as Elliot  Short adroitly contends, this multi-ethnic army became the most  significant act in stabilising the country since the end of the Bosnian  War.
Drawing upon a wealth of primary sources – including  interviews with leading diplomats and archival documents made available  in English for the first time – this book explores the social and  political role of the Bosnian military and in doing so provides fresh  insight into the Yugoslav Wars, statehood and national identity, and  peace-building in modern European history.