The Denial of Bosnia (Post-Communist Cultural Studies.) [Hardcover]

Rusmir Mahmutcehajic (Author), Francis R. Jones (Author), Marina Bowder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 027102030X | ISBN-13: 978-0271020303

In 1997, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, one of Bosnia's leading public intellectuals, was scheduled to lecture on Bosnia at Stanford University but was unexpectedly denied an entry visa by American authorities. This book, first published in Bosnia in 1998, is an expanded version of that lecture. It is an indictment of the partition of Bosnia, formalized in 1995 by the Dayton Accord. It is also a plea for Bosnia s communities to reject ethnic segregation and restore mutual trust. For the first time, English-speaking readers can hear this important voice of dissent from within Bosnia-Herzegovina.Mahmutcehajic (pronounced 'ma-moot-che-HI-itch') argues for the history and reality of a Bosnia-Herzegovina based upon a model of 'unity in diversity.' He shows that ethnic and religious cultures have coexisted in Bosnia for centuries. Partitioning of Bosnia, therefore, should have been unthinkable except that a multi-ethnic, multi-faith Bosnia stood squarely in the way of Croatian and Serbian leaders determined to enact their own nationalist programs. The decisive moment came when the international community accepted the Serb-Croat argument that ancient ethnic hatreds were endemic to Bosnia. At that point, ethnic segregation became not only acceptable but desirable. With the complicity of Western powers, Serbs and Croats proceeded to carve out ethnically cleansed states. Mahmutcehajic examines the reasons why Western liberal democracies have regarded with sympathy the struggles of Serbia and Croatia for national recognition, while viewing Bosnia's multicultural society with suspicion. As one of Bosnia's former political leaders in the early peace talks, he describes with authority how the parties were often physically aligned during formal talks, with Bosniak negotiators on one side of the table and everybody else Serb, Croat, and international representatives on the other. In the end, justice was subverted and the final solution justified on the basis of an intractable 'conflict of civilizations.' Mahmutcehajic confronts the religious dimension of the Bosnian dilemma with refreshing honesty. As a Bosniak committed to interreligious dialogue, he calls for more than simple toleration among Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians. He remembers that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share the same deity, and it is this common transcendent perspective that should open the door to the acceptance and celebration of religious diversity. Only in this way will Bosnia reclaim its unique civilization.The Denial of Bosnia has dire implications for the future of a Europe searching for a viable post Cold War order. Will Europe accept ethnic segregation as a solution to the contradictions of ethnic diversity or find a way to protect and build upon this diversity? Bosnia, though currently divided and shaken to its foundations, could become a model for European progress. The greatest danger is for Bosnia to be declared just another ethnoreligious entity, in this case a 'Muslim State' ghettoized inside of Europe. If protected and allowed to develop, however, Bosnia too could find a place in the new European order.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

During the past decade of warfare and atrocities in the countries that once formed Tito's Yugoslavia, much of Western public opinion was formed on the basis of exposure to fierce nationalism. Politicians such as Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic and Croatia's Franjo Tudjman dominated the news and, indeed, literally determined the fate of peoples and nations. Mahmutcehajic's passionate treatise on the history and fate of Bosnia is both a bitter denunciation of Milosevic's and Tudjman's destruction and division of Bosnia and an eloquent voice of dissent within Bosnia that has long needed to be heard. Mahmutcehajic, formerly a close ally of Bosnia-Hercegovina's president Alija Izetbegovic and a government minister in the early '90s, broke with Izetbegovic and the Muslim Party of Democratic Action over his opposition to their gradual acceptance of partitioning his country. Dividing Bosnia, he contends, represents a denial of a liberal model of unity in diversityAone that "could act as a model for European progress." As Mahmutcehajic reviews the historical background of the Bosnian war and the events that have occurred during the country's disintegration, he offers a philosophical treatise on Bosnia's past and future and on the nature of human relations as witnessed in the Bosnian model. With references to concepts such as trust, renewal and the right to redemption, Mahmutcehajic forces readers to examine anew the nature of religious conflict in Bosnia, positing that the country's destruction was not the result of religious conflict; instead, he argues, the conflict is "a political betrayal of religion" (whose "core elements can be seen as transcending division and conflicts"). This fervent petition for dialogue and building trust is an eloquent reminder that voices of faith and hope have survived amidst the cynical barbarity and corruption in Bosnia. 20 maps and illus. not seen by PW. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Denial of Bosnia is a vital contribution to our understanding of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as an important perspective on Bosnia s past and future. Mahmutcehajic analyzes Bosnia s role, both symbolically and geopolitically, in the way Europe and the world community in general organize social and national life. This book, by one of Bosnia s cultural leaders, is one that is vitally needed. --Michael Sells, Haverford College, Author of The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia

For many outsiders, Bosnia has already been virtually relegated to the backwaters of recent history, as genocide gave way to uncertain peace, and the stage set gradually moved southward to Kosovo. But in The Denial of Bosnia, a portrayal of the attempted destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina by forces internal and external, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic demonstrates, through the close interweaving of philosophical, political, and theological discourse, the dangers still inherent in the international real politic approach to Bosnia and, conversely, Bosnia's pivotal role in a new, and potentially more humane, social order. In this rich and multifaceted work, the author captures the essence of Bosnia, while reaching beyond it in his analysis of the forces which combined in an attempt to destroy it. --Carole Hodge, University of Glasgow

Mahmutcehajic's passionate treatise on the history and fate of Bosnia is both a bitter denunciation of Milosevic s and Tudjman's destruction and division of Bosnia and an eloquent voice of dissent within Bosnia that has long needed to be heard. . . . Mahmutcehajic forces readers to examine anew the nature of religious conflict in Bosnia, positing that the country s destruction was not the result of religious conflict; instead, he argues, the conflict is a political betrayal of religion (whose core elements can be seen as transcending division and conflicts ). --Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Txt) (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 027102030X
• ISBN-13: 978-0271020303
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,307,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to know about war in Bosnia - read this book, January 24, 2001

By 

"nuzunovic" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Denial of Bosnia (Post-Communist Cultural Studies.) (Hardcover)

The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to know about war in Bosnia - read this book, January 24, 2001

By 

"nuzunovic" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Denial of Bosnia (Post-Communist Cultural Studies.) (Hardcover)

The Mahmutcehajic's work is a perfect literature for anyone who ever wanted to know why Bosnian war happened, why Genocide, Concentration camps and enormous human suffering and misery occurred at the end of the twentieth century and what was this conflict all about. I am sure this essay will satisfy anyone who wants to discover more about Bosnian tragedy either professionally or out of curiosity. For historians an politicians Mahmutcehajic's work represents an excellent and detailed expertise, for history, politics or international affairs Students it is the richest resource available about War in Bosnia and for just a curious reader it is the best yet informer about one of the greatest human tragedies in this century.