Divided West Leaves Bosnia's 'Governor' Exposed

The Peace Implementation Council, PIC, the ad-hoc body made up of countries and international organizations overseeing the OHR's work and implementation of Bosnia's 1995 peace agreement, withheld international support for use of the OHR's executive powers at Tuesday's meeting.

The outcome has left Bosnia's peace agreement without one of the main mechanisms designed to maintain peace in the country, greatly complicating the situation on the ground.

A perception that Bosnia's "Western Emperor", the once mighty OHR, is now more of less powerless may well encourage local leaders to push their nationalist agendas even further, at a time when all the leaders of Bosnia's main ethnic groups are rattling their sabres and threatening each other.

Preoccupied by bigger internal and external crises, the US and the EU have ignored the warning signs from Bosnia for months and years.

Their growing detachment from Bosnia has been used by local leaders to push their personal and party agendas, effectively undermining Bosnia's peace treaty.

Milorad Dodik, leader of the mainly Serb entity, Republika Srpska, and head of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, SNSD, has proven to be the strongest and most determined opponent of international executive powers in Bosnia.

After challenging the OHR for years, Dodik this year launched an initiative for an RS-wide referendum in support of January 9 as the RS National Day, which Bosnia's Constitutional Court earlier declared unconstitutional.

Regardless of the Court ruling and the OHR's statement that such a referendum would violate Bosnia's peace agreement, the referendum has been endorsed by all Bosnian Serb parties and confirmed by RS institutions.  It is scheduled for September 25, only a...