Humprey A. Russel
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ABSTRACTThe Balkan conflict which shocked the international community during the 1990's has now marked history as one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies during of that decade. The basic principle of self-determination by the republic states within the Yugoslav Federation was responded with armed conflict by the ruling Serbs. Bosnia Herzegovina as one of the many republic states that attempted to separate itself from the Yugoslav Federation, faced direct military aggression from the Serbian-controlled Yugoslavian National Army (JNA), desperately trying to maintain integrity of the disintegrating Yugoslavian Federation.
This military aggression instigated ethnic conflict within the territories of Bosnia Herzegovina into the following opposite ethic factions: Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims. The escalating conflict gained the attention of the international community, which opted to mediate a peaceful solution for the conflicting parties. The European Community, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Western European Union (WEU) were the key regional organizations in Europe that supported the United Nations (UN) effort of peacekeeping operations in the Bosnian conflict area.
History has recorded the UN peacekeeping operations in Bosnia as a continued polemic in regard to its effectiveness and implementation. The internal bureaucracy of the United Nations, specifically the UN Security Council and its mandates has shown ambiguities affecting the overall outcome of the peacekeeping operations.
This thesis attempts a qualitative study to further analyze the dynamics within the United Nations, and its effectiveness in implementing peacekeeping operation efforts during the Balkan crisis in Bosnia."
