The Bosnian War, August-November 1995; Clinton’s Unilateral Push for Peace Prior to the 1996 Spring Re-Election Campaign

Abstract

August of 1995 marked a turning point in President Bill Clinton’s foreign policy stance and overall United States (US) diplomatic engagement in the Bosnian War. Traditional narrative emphasizes the genocide at Srebrenica in July 1995 as the calling for US intervention in the wake of the continuous failure of the international led coalitions. While this reasoning is accurate to an extent, it fails to include a vital component that had long been speculated but unable to confirm. Through investigation of recently declassified documents, I will propose a specific ulterior motive accounting for the particular timing of US unilateral intervention; Clinton’s upcoming 1996 spring re-election campaign. The Balkans have a troubled and turbulent history. Various empires and religions have forged divisive ethnocultural identities over the last two thousand years. After WWII, a decentralized economic system exacerbated regional disparities and political instability, resulting in the resurgence of nationalism in the 1980s, ultimately leading to the dissolution of the country and the subsequent Yugoslav Wars. The horrific events at Srebrenica in July of 1995 marked the return of genocide to Europe. From 1991-1995, the international community, including the United Nations, failed repeatedly to broker a peace deal between the warring factions, showing ambivalence and disorganization in the freshly minted post-Cold War world. Although Clinton’s foreign policy was founded on humanitarianism, it was not until the ongoing crisis threatened his re-election campaign that decisive unilateral action was taken, with the objective of brokering a peace deal before winter at all costs.