ABSTRACT
While the previous chapter established the broader context for this study, this chapter will develop a theoretical framework for understanding Bosnia’s current economic transition process. This framework will be developed by exploring and juxtaposing two particular bodies of literature: the first on the political economy of post-socialist economic transition and the second on the political economy of conflict. The aim of this chapter is to examine the core arguments of each approach, to point out contradictions and convergences between them, and to examine the implications of applying orthodox economic transition policies in environments dominated by the political economy of conflict. Ideally, this discussion will yield insights which can be applied to situations – such as post-Dayton Bosnia – in which post-conflict peacebuilding and post-socialist market-building are taking place simultaneously.
