The case of Brcko District: institutional perspectives and current political challenges.

Abstract

After the end of the Yugoslav wars, academics focused their work to analyze this multi-dimensional conflict through political, economic, geopolitical, historical and anthropological perspectives. Especially Bosnia was considered as an important case study, because of the atrocities, destructions and the international community’s interest. The Dayton Peace Agreement which has finished the Bosnian conflict, left the town of Brčko in an uncertain status because of its position in the map, connecting the northern and southern part of the Republica Srpska, having a multi-ethnic population and been claimed by both RS and the Federation. For that reason, an Arbitral Tribunal reached a solution for Brčko through the establishment of a Supervisor. In this vein, a Statute that been compiled, defined the status of the district and shaped the political and administrative framework in accordance with it can function. The importance of the topic is due to its specific status and the international intervention in order to find a solution. More profoundly, the political and administrative organization in Bosnia are distinctive, complex and still uncertain with regard to effectiveness and functionality. In this content, the particular traits of Brčko within Bosnia in administration, public organization, education, police and other factors give different perspectives of how things can be organized after a conflict, in order for the citizens to live peacefully and reconcile the wounds of the war. Taking all the aforementioned points into consideration, this thesis provides an analytical description of the Statute, the political administration, the power-sharing and its special features as compared with the rest of the country and the autonomous administrative units of the region, like schools, police and judicial system. My conclusion is that the Brčko District mechanism is a separate and divergent way of governance in comparison with the rest of the country. Through the years, positive and negative aspects of this policy could be traced, although Brčko can be used as an important and helpful example of how to deal with post-conflict societies.