The Conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina 30 Years Later. A Legal and Historical Reflection

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The conference aims at offering a critical reflection on the most relevant aspects of the conflict that devastated Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as an assessment of the post-war period, both from the point of view of international relations and international law

The conflict that devastated Bosnia and Herzegovina exactly thirty years ago was the scene of large-scale war crimes, raised delicate legal questions, and constituted an important moment in the evolution of post-Cold War international relations, so much so as to raise the question of whether the crisis that affected the Balkan area in 1992-95 can be considered, together with the Gulf War, as the origin of post-bipolar (dis)order, certainly in Europe, perhaps on a global level.

The conference aims at offering a critical reflection on the most relevant aspects of the conflict as well as an assessment of the post-war period, both from the point of view of international relations and international law.

PROGRAMME

2:00 – 2:15 pm Welcome address

KEYNOTE SPEECH

2:15 – 3:00 pm

The conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina and its aftermath. Reflections from the ground, Valentin Inzko, former High Representative and EU Special Representative (HR/EUSR) for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Online)

SESSION I – THE CONFLICT IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

24 March 2022 (3:00 – 6:00 pm CET)

Introduction Alessandra Pietrobon, Professor of international law, University of Padova

3:00 – 3:45 pm

Reporting from the war theater. The experience in Bosnia-Herzegovina and beyond, conversation between Roy Gutman, Journalist, Pulitzer Price (Online) and Marzio G. Mian, Journalist, co-author of “Maledetta Sarajevo. Viaggio nella guerra dei trent’anni. Vietnam d’Europa”.

3:45 – 4:00 pm Coffee Break

4:00 – 6:00 pm

The use of military force in international law: The Case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Antonello Tancredi, Professor of international law, University of Milano Bicocca

Le regole nell'uso della forza negli scenari di crisi. L'intervento militare della NATO in Bosnia Erzegovina e oltre (Rules in the use of force in crisis scenarios. NATO military intervention in Bosnia and beyond), Leonardo Tricarico, former Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force

Il discorso d'odio e i conflitti nella ex Yugoslavia (Hate speech and conflicts in Former Yugoslavia), Flavia Lattanzi, Former Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Professor of International Law

Lessons learned on juridical statehood in Bosnia and Herzegovina post-Dayton, Enrico Milano, Professor of international Law, University of Verona, and Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of Italy at the United Nations, New York (Online)

Discussant Tarcisio Gazzini, Professor of international law, University of Padova

Conference Dinner

SESSION II – THE POST-CONFLICT EXPERIENCE

25 March 2022 (9:00 am – 1:00 pm CET)

9:00 – 11:30 pm The solidarity of civil society during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European space of memory, Luisa Chiodi, Director, OBC Transeuropa (CCI, Trento)

The limits of peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina from Dayton to nowadays, Roberto Belloni, Professor of Political Science, University of Trento

The challenge of democratic consolidation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Florian Bieber, Director, Centre for Southeast European Studies, University of Graz

Discussant

Benedetto Zaccaria, Assistant professor of history of international relations, University of Padova

11:30 – 11:45 pm Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:15 Online Presentation of the Exhibition “Wake Up, Europe! Support and solidarity mobilisations for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its citizens during the 1992-1995 war” (History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo), Nicolas Moll, Memory Lab – Trans-European Platform on History and Remembrance

Conclusions

Elena Calandri, Professor of history of international relations, University of Padova

Conference Lunch

All times are in Central European Time (CET)

Register here .

Organizers: Elena Calandri, Tarcisio Gazzini, Alessandra Pietrobon, Benedetto Zaccaria (Università di Padova)

This workshop is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union DG_MED, Digital competences of academic staff. A new dimension of Mediterranean studies (Project number: 2020-1- PL01-K226-HE-095909)