Russia Vs The West: Global Competition in the Local Setting of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Events of the last few years have shown that Russia is no longer ready to follow the Western consensus when it comes to Bosnia, including EU enlargement and the general orientation towards liberal democracy. What we see in Bosnia and in the wider region of the Western Balkans is an emergence of a new geopolitical marketplace. This has become even more obvious with the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Collateral damage from the geopolitically divided world on smaller and more fragile nations and states such as Bosnia is becoming increasingly obvious. The increasingly fierce competition between Russia and the West has its trickle-down and spoiler effects on previous arrangements and power constellations in specific regions of the world, as exemplified by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia simply wants to prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from joining NATO and the EU at any price. The West needs to send a strong message to Putin and Russia that it stands behind its partners and will strengthen its support to a unified, multi-ethnic, functional and democratic Bosnia and Herzegovina.