What has been the impact of military downsizing on broader state building agendas in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)? This article argues that state-led demilitarisation in BiH has had a negative effect on public support for the country’s ethnically fragmented administration and has undermined the legitimacy of the central state. This suggests the need to consider the state building implications of post-conflict demilitarisation and the downsizing of armed groups, particularly: (i) the size of the military/militant force(s); (ii) the symbolic importance of the military (and its affiliates, such as veterans and war widows); (iii) the level and foundation of the state’s legitimacy; (iv) the presence or absence of competing or alternative sources of authority; and (v) the ability to provide substantial, effective, and culturally appropriate reintegration or post-service transition assistance.
There has been insufficient focus by policymakers and academics on the state building implications of demilitarisation. Rather than reflecting ideologically rooted assumptions regarding the presumed security benefits of demilitarisation, military downsizing, and DDR, in particular, it is necessary to examine the specific dynamics between state building and demilitarisation.
Veterans of the civil war from all sides form BiH’s single largest, most visible constituency. However, military downsizing in BiH failed to capitalise upon all available opportunities for state unification and instead exacerbated a legitimacy crisis.
- International actors failed to recognise the symbolic, historical and political importance of the military for large swathes of the population.
- No attempt was made to fully involve the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the provision of assistance to discharged military personnel and this represented a missed opportunity to promote state ownership
- The MoD and national institutions lacked the capacity, resources and structures to prove their credibility through the effective delivery of common goods and health, education, and pension services.
In the 2010 round of military downsizing in BiH, national institutions should focus on their responsibility to former soldiers and well-being in order to develop the legitimacy of the state. Social services and other common goods must be deployed strategically to support national governing institutions and develop their legitimacy. Further:
- The MoD must develop its Personnel Transition Support Unit and create a department responsible for the resettlement of discharged soldiers
- The MoD’s responsibility for the post-discharge wellbeing of soldiers must be conceived of as giving the central government a role in social service provision for former members of the AFBiH.
- Service provision for former military personnel, veterans, and war widows could gradually be expanded to include the general population
- International donors should give financial and technical assistance to develop education, training, and employment centres for former military personnel and war widows.
