The overall tone of the meeting included relatively tolerant and professional exchanges, a recurring expression of the need to deal with the abuses for the sake of the victims and for reconciliation, and a yearning for a society based on a rule of law. Consensus was reached on a dozen points for action, including concrete steps to improve The Hague Tribunal and to enhance the credibility and fairness of domestic war crimes trials, as well as proposals to exclude from the police and certain government positions those involved in abuses. This consensus among disparate interests is not an isolated event. It is a fragile place, and most of the top political leaders are not there yet. Agreements by a group of individuals below the top leadership on significant issues do, however, present small openings for Bosnians and for the international community to choose a very different way to end this conflict.
Peace building is a messy complicated, and lengthy process.
There is much evidence of donor fatigue and flagging interest in keeping up the pressure on leaders. Now is the time to support those efforts and those people who do not have the freedoms we celebrate on the Fourth, but who yearn for them deeply. Their media keeps them captive, and their leaders deprive them of the tools to change the course of history. Whether we like it or not, the international community is needed still to press top leaders to honor commitments made at Dayton, to find ways to support those away from center stage, and to cultivate new leaders in the process. Harriet Hentges is Executive Vice President of the United States Institute of Peace.