The United Nations’ Involvement in Bosnia

The formation of the United Nations in 1945 marked a monumental success in the international political realm. It was founded to foster relations with its member and non-member states, encourage the respect of human rights, and fight to solve social, economic, and humanitarian issues. However, of all of these motives, its foundation was based primarily on creating peace and preventing conflict between members. The idea of collective security in the UN has become the heart of peace keeping within the union and all members vow to preserve peace and eliminate identified aggressors. Chapter VII of the UN charter is the impetus behind collective security and provides the legal foundation for the UN to eradicate all threats to the peace.

One of the most iconic employments of Chapter VII by the UN came in 1992 when the UN Security Council invoked Chapter VII to restore peace and provide humanitarian aid in then crumbling Yugoslavia when all other peace making and mediation attempts failed. An ethnic cleansing by Bosnian Serbs backed by ambitions of territory annexation and a “Greater Serbia” led to one of the most destructive conflicts of the Century. The UN’s decision to invoke Chapter VII authorized the member states to “take all necessary measures” in order to reestablish order. What followed would become one of the most horrific genocides in history, comparable to that of the Jewish cleansing in World War II. The Bosnian War would mark a unique time for the United Nations as it would involve their first cooperation with a local alliance and also mark NATO’s first armed enforcement action.

At the conclusion of the Second World War, the Communist Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was constructed to be a multinational state, c...

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...ade strong enough to still stand today.

Although the Dayton agreement did end the War, it is not seen as flawless by any means. Similarly to the Vance-Owen Plan, which would have split up Bosnia into 10 different cantons, the Dayton agreement also seemed to award Serb aggression because the territories Bosnia lost were not returned to it. Instead of being severally punished, the Serbs seemed to get a slap on the wrist and were able to keep the land acquired. Holbrooke stated that returning all lost territories to Bosnia would have required much more bombing which could have stirred up problems with Russia and China and potentially sabotaged the progress made. Operation Deliberate Force ended at what was thought to be the realistic and practical limit. The Dayton Agreement was a vital step in establishing the framework for democracy and capitalism in the region.