Location Note
Harriman Institute Atrium
420 W 118th Street, 12th floor
This is a hybrid (in-person/virtual) event. Registration required for attendance. Please note that all attendees must follow Columbia’s COVID-19 Policies and Guidelines. Columbia University is committed to protecting the health and safety of its community. To that end, all visiting alumni and guests must meet the University requirement of full vaccination status in order to attend in-person events. Vaccination cards may be checked upon entry to all venues. All other attendees may participate virtually on Zoom or YouTube.
Please join the Harriman Institute for a panel discussion on US foreign policy in the Western Balkans with Ambassador Victor Jackovich, Reuf Bajrović, Erol Avdović, and Tanya Domi.
The United States played key roles in ending the 1993-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina by negotiating the Dayton Peace Accords which reset the country from a brutal war that resulted in multiple convictions in genocide that has eased iinto an uneasypeace that has sustained continuous calls for secession by the Bosnian Serb leaderhip. Now nearly 30 years later, the current High Representative Christian Schmidt recently imposed controversial electoral laws during Bosnia's October 2022 elections that will ultimately inflate the numbers of elected Croats to the House of Peoples. Schmidt's actions were responded to by massive demonstrations by Bosnians outraged by his actions. The US backed Schmidt's actions, issuing a statement of support, surprising not only Bosnians but international observers, as well. The United States also played a key role in supporting Kosovo's quest for independence that was declared in 2008 following 77 days of aerial bombing led by the United States . And in recent days, the US has been applying coercive diplomacy to Prime Minister Albin Kurti's leadership of the Kosovo gobernment in another turnabout in US foreign policy. More broadly, the US has made a number of overtures of support to Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian government who is not a ally of the United States and while they have pledged to cooperate with NATO, Serbia has no aspirations to join NATO and become a member of the Atlantic Security alliance. Indeed, Serbia is arguably the strongest supporter of Russia not only in the Balkans, but across Europe. Why is the US supporting open proxies to Putin? It appears that the US has foresaken some of its best friends in the Western Balkans. Why? and Why now? This panel discussion with examine these questions and more.
