EU/US and Turkey to mediate the conflict in Bosnia: a comparative study

Official URL: http://192.168.1.20/record=b1379325 (Table of Contents)

This thesis assumes a substantial change in the situation of conflict in Bosnia especially in the sense of political dialogue and economic cooperation due to the mediation of Turkey which started since October 2009. In addition, it also acknowledges the failure of the mediation conducted by European Union and United States jointly in the region of Bosnia Herzegovina during the same month which could not alter at all the political deadlock. Both mediations agreed on the argument that the political deadlock and lack of cooperation between parties in the region of Bosnia- Herzegovina threatens state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, the goal of each mediation was to ensure a permanent recognition of Bosnia- Herzegovina's full sovereignty. The fact that two different mediators worked for the same goal, at the same time and in the same region but achieved different results triggered our research in looking further factors that may have determined success in mediation. For this purpose, after affirming success in the Turkish mediation by looking at the variables of success in 5 mediation received from a thorough literature review, we searched the literature on determinants of mediation outcome which cited us four main factors determining success in mediation. These are listed as: 1) Characteristics of the Parties, 2) Nature of the Dispute, 3) Characteristics of the Mediator and 4) Mediation Strategies. Based on the comparative case findings, the analysis shows that multi party regimes, small power differences, positive past relationship, right timing and lack of complex issues facilitate the mediation process. Furthermore, it advocates the argument that low intervention strategies are more successful in post-crisis tensions. However, contrary to the literature, the study demonstrated that individual mediators may be more successful than regional mediators and that successful mediation is not only related to the possession of resources that either or both parties value but it is also related to the ability of the mediators to fulfill their promises and share these resources.