Stuck in the Past
It has been over 25 years since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended, yet the country is still considered to be in crisis and political conflict. The political system established through the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 has brought peace but has failed to resolve underlying tensions between power-hungry ethnic patrimonial elites and the strengthening of democracy, rule of law, and economic development. At the same time, the unaddressed memories of war strongly impact citizens and segment society. By conceptualizing the structural, societal, and historical challenges facing BiH since independence in 1992, and more specifically since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995, this Introduction aims to give an overview of how citizens and institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to be still stuck in the past of the 1990s conflict, and what the difficulties they are facing in transforming themselves into something they aim to become.