Chapter 9, Bosnia: "No More than Witnesses at a Funeral" Summary

In 1991, Yugoslavia began to break up into smaller countries. Bosnia was caught in a tough situation: if they stayed a part of Yugoslavia, their Muslims and Croats citizens would be subject to discrimination, and if they left, their Muslim citizens would have no protector within that part of Europe. Western diplomats suggested that Bosnia offer human rights protections to its minorities. Some Bosnian Serbs; however, declared an independent Serb state, backed by the Serb dominated Yugoslav Army. Western countries recognized the state, hoping that it would stabilize the area. Bosnian Serb soldiers; however, were already compiling lists of Muslim and Croat professionals and intellectuals. They began taking non-Serbs into custody, beating them, and sometimes executing them. The Serbs' actions were euphemistically referred to as "ethnic cleansing." Which "was defined as the elimination of an ethnic...