This article was originally appeared in New York Transatlantic.
In 2011, the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina was suspended by the Union of European Football Associations for violating a new statute: that the organization must be led by a single president. The Bosnian FA, mirroring the tripartite presidency of the state, had three: a Bosniak (Muslim), a Croat (Catholic), and a Serb (Orthodox). Following boycotts by national team members and public opposition, the system was changed and a single president elected by the end of 2012.
But while the existence of three heads of state has had far graver repercussions, constitutional reform has stalled. The sense of urgency brought to bear on the Bosnian FA has not fallen upon the Bosnian presidency, and politicians are complacent with a status quo that they directly benefit from.
Though a quarter-century has passed since the end of the Bosnian War, tensions remain between the egalitarian aims of the constitution and the divided reality. Its provisions for power sharing have inundated the top levels of the Bosnian government with ethnic politics and political parties. In an attempt to preserve and even extend their power and influence, politicians rally around ethnicity-based issues—such as proposed independence referendums—that “would be tremendously destabilizing, and almost certainly precipitate violence,” said Kurt Bassuener of the Democratization Policy Council in an email interview.
Politicians use rhetoric reminiscent of that deployed during the war, exploit fears to justify ethnic parties, and reinforce a system of patronage and clientelism. “People vote for these parties because they recognize that the best and sometimes only way to get a job is through a connection with these political parties,” said Jasmin Mujanović, a political scientist and analyst focused on Southeast Europe. This framing has spread into all aspects of life, disseminated too often by the media and with everything from school curricula to war memorials perceived through this lens.