ABSTRACT
The war against Bosnia-Herzegovina is part of events that took place in the wider region, and cannot be understood outside that context, whether as to its causes or its long-term consequences, not only in BosniaHerzegovina but also in the neighbouring countries and significantly further afield. As far as I know, no consistent, credible model for interpreting that process has been offered so far, either in Bosnia-Herzegovina or elsewhere. So I shall begin by emphasizing the wording of my original title 'The war against Bosnia-Herzegovina', since this is very important for understanding the propositions that follow. The war against BosniaHerzegovina also explains what occurred in Croatia, both politically and militarily, and what happened in Serbia, all within the context of the repercussions and influences of European and global processes. The break-up of SFRY involved the question of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which remains the central issue after that break-up, as it also was of what we have called the war in Croatia. Events in Croatia and Serbia were crucially important for the war against Bosnia-Herzegovina; they are neither independent nor parallel phenomena, but hierarchically subordinate to that war.
