NATO Membership for Bosnia and Herzegovina: Obstacles and Challenges
Abstract
To provide for its future security, Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to NATO membership. It intends to be not only a consumer of security, but also a provider of security for its allies. Because of the history and specific regional context of its relations with its neighbors, Bosnia and Herzegovina faces many obstacles. Although Bosnia and Herzegovina is still engaged in a stabilization and reconstruction process, Sarajevo is trying to find the best possible way to achieve the goal of NATO membership. The broad research question examined in this thesis is the following: What are the possible obstacles facing Bosnia and Herzegovina as it pursues NATO membership, and what are the most effective solutions to overcoming these obstacles? To answer this broad question the thesis addresses the following more specific questions: What are the main challenges in the NATO enlargement process and how are they related to the aspirations of Bosnia and Herzegovina for NATO membership?; What impact could defense reform have on the NATO membership process?; How can Bosnia and Herzegovina become not only a consumer of security, but also a provider of security for its allies?; and How have relations between the particular case study countries -- Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina -- and their neighboring countries changed since the early 1990s? Finally, to what extent do the previous disputes among them have implications for the NATO membership process? Croatia has been chosen for a comparative case study because of the similarity in the size of its territory and population with those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its common history within the same geo-strategic space. Croatia is an example of a successful neighboring country on its way to NATO membership.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA493953
Entities
People
- Jasmin Katica
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School