Even the Red Cross chapters barely speak to each other. The Serb member of the collective presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, agrees to attend occasional meetings with his Muslim and Croat counterparts only under intense Western coercion. In a society stoked by incendiary media and inflamed by nationalist politicians, people have few ways to identify themselves other than by ethnicity. The West has done little to promote moderate opposition politicians, who have little support. And the idea of civil society, which is thriving in other post-communist states of Eastern Europe, remains in its infancy.
Diplomats concede that the chasm between effort and achievement here is vast.
I still believe normal life is possible in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But almost everybody and everything is pushing toward partition. Grebo is unwilling to give up hope. He is considering a quixotic campaign for president next year against the entrenched ruling Bosnian Muslim party. Within the shaky Muslim-Croat Federation, the divisions are as deep as they are between the federation and Serbian authorities.