Bosnia: Coincidental similarities?

The Conflict
Bosnia's conflict is the nature of the country itself. Since the Ottoman conquest, it was never an independent polity till 1992, but always administered from the outside. Once Yugoslavia was renounced by half its inhabitants, and Communist doctrine of ethnic brotherhood was repudiated, Bosnia's ethnic communities pursued different visions. Croats wanted to join with Croatia. Serbs sought to remain in Yugoslavia (with fellow Serbs), or secede. Neither wanted a centralized state dominated by the plurality of Muslims.

This is what caused the war in 1992, and a concession to Croat and Serb claims after the Dayton Accord is what stopped it. Even though the 1995 Dayton Accords stopped more than three years of brutal inter-ethnic warfare, the conflict between communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina has continued ever since, through politics and media.

Ethnic Division
No sooner was the Dayton agreement implemented on the ground, Muslims advocate centralization as "more efficient,". Given that Muslims are the largest ethnic group in the country (over 44%), though not a majority and that they have adopted a name for themselves "Bosniaks" and their dialect "Bosnian language", suggesting that Bosnia is their own nation-state, while Serbs and Croats are minorities, it becomes clear who stands to control a centralized "citizen state."

As in Malaysia where the ethnic Malays is the largest ethnic group (over 65%), which off course makes the Malays the overwhelming majority. Malaysian centralized 'citizen state' is controlled by the ethnic Malays.

State Survival
Bosnia and Herzegovina can survive as a community of peoples and entities enjoying the same rights, and in which protective mechanisms are clear and unbiased. It is important to understand that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be build on fears. It can only be build by mutual understanding between the multi ethnic people living there. Which is what Malaysia did when it achieved it's independence. Mutual understanding or "Social Contract" was what kept Malaysia's peace.

Over a decade after the peace treaty signed in Dayton, Ohio, ended the civil war, the conflict between Bosnia's ethnic communities over the very nature of their country is nowhere near resolution. Ethnic relations in Bosnia are on the ragged edge, to the point where some are speculating another war is possible. That may be unlikely but one thing is for certain, there is no peace among Bosnia's communities, and there can't be so long as everyone is acting irresponsibly and disregard of others.

Flawed Western "Multiculturalism"
The Dayton Accord imposes on the signatories a system apparently modeled on the modern American campus, where each ethno-religious minority has its own ethnic studies department, its own dormitories, and its own campus organizations. In the imaginary state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, its American architects have erected a model of "multiculturalism," an edifice perfectly suited to the fragmented and inherently contentious structure of Bosnian civil society.

Talk about American style "multiculturalism". It's even worse than the heavily criticized Malaysian style "multiculturalism". The American style of "multiculturalism" is actually the problem. Their logic is flawed. How could you talk about "multiculturalism" when you have different department or instituitions for every different ethnic citizens? It's absurd. Thats not "multiculturalism", thats "racism".

Lessons to be learned
There are a few things to be learned from Bosnia. The war, the ever lasting ethnic tensions. We in Malaysia should be gratefull that our forefathers were visionaries and took the right steps to build Malaysia. Actually, the Malaysian "Social Contact" between the races in Malaysia is what saved the country. It benifited the country and it's inhabitants. It was our decision what steps to be taken and what system of governance to choose. We did not choose the western style "multiculturalism" instead we made our own concept of "multiculturalism".

If our forefathers would have chosen a western style of "multiculturalism", we would not have had what we have now. Worse still, Malaysia would have suffered what the former Yugoslavia had gone through. We would be in the same shoes as Bosnia.

People of Bosnia and Herzegovina should learn the Malaysian experience in nation builing. Maybe it could work there as it did here. They must first put aside their petty differences and work together to build their nation. There must be a "Social Contract" between the Bosniaks, the Serbs and the Croats.