After Ethnic Conflict Policy-making in Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia Southeast European Studies Series

After Ethnic Conflict: Policy-making in Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia investigates how sensitive policy issues can be resolved in the aftermath of war by investigating how political elites interact and make decisions in ethnically divided societies. Focussing on the interactions between political elites and attempts to reach agreement across ethnic lines in Bosnia and Macedonia the book examines the impact that institutional factors can have on political actors and the decisions they make. Examining domestic factors and external influence in politics, Cvete Koneska identifies four key drivers of post-conflict cooperation: cross-cutting identities, minority veto powers, territorial autonomy, and informal practices to explain inter-ethnic political accommodation. By looking beyond the immediate post-conflict landscape, created by foreign peace negotiators and aid missions, to the internal political process she shows the real reasons political actors cooperate and how competing ethnic tensions are reconciled following ethnic conflict. Delving deeper into specific policy areas to compare successful and unsuccessful attempts at ethnic accommodation this book explores the factors behind the different policy outcomes that sustain or undermine peace and ethnic cooperation in ethnically divided societies.

Part I Introduction; Chapter 1 After Ethnic Conflict: Why Look at Post-conflict Recovery?; Chapter 2 Explaining Ethnic Accommodation; Part II Historical and Institutional Background; Chapter 3 Bosnia 1991–1996: From Communism to Ethnic Conflict; Chapter 4 Macedonia 1991–2001: Simmering Ethnic Tensions; Part III What Makes Post-conflict Politics Work; Chapter 5 Military Reform in Bosnia: A Single Joint Army; Chapter 6 Decentralisation in Macedonia: Designing Municipal Maps and Funds; Part IV Continuing Challenges: Persisting Ethnic Tensions After Conflict; Chapter 7 Police Reform in Bosnia: Ethnicity above Efficiency; Chapter 8 Minority Education in Macedonia: Recurring Ethnic Tensions; Chapter 9 Conclusions;

Cvete Koneska holds a DPhil in Politics from St Antony’s College, Oxford. Her research is focused on post-conflict politics, ethnically divided societies, and regional security dynamics in Southeast Europe. She is also interested in policy analysis, an interest acquired as a Research fellow at Analytica think tank in Skopje, Macedonia.