Order and Justice in the Dayton Agreement : An English School Analysis of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ended in 1995 with the signing of the Dayton Agreement. However, despite almost 25 years passing since its implementation Bosnia and Herzegovina is still a troubled state with deep internal divisions. This study seeks to analyzethe Dayton Agreement using an English School framework together with an examination of the most prevalent approach to peace within it. In Particular, it uses recent English School theoretical developments that place the concepts of order and justice on a spectrum where an ideal mix is sought. The focus is on discovering whether there is a focus on order to the detriment of justice. To accomplish this the thesis uses a combination of qualitative text analysis and the ADICO grammatical syntax which seeks to analyze statements by breaking them down into their constituent parts. The results of the analysis showed that the initial hypothesis was faulty, and order was in fact the least coded part of the Dayton Agreement. However, it also uncovereda number of problems, and contradictions within the Agreement, most of whom were to the detriment of the parts dedicated to justice and peacebuilding. Findings indicate that the parts of the Dayton Agreement focusing on justice and long-term peacebuilding have been negatively affected by inconsistencies and problems within it as well as the sheer variety of goals that the Agreement seeks to fulfill. This in turn has had implications for the long-term success and stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina.