Preliminary communication
Relevance of the political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Dalmatia
Saša Mrduljaš
Abstract
Considering the geographical interdependence between Dalmatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina bears on Croatia as no other state. So long as Bosnia and Herzegovina is politically unstable, Croatia will – due to the spatial extension of its Dalmatian segment – be rightly looked upon as a country that is part of an unstable region. What is also relevant to Croatia is the fact that the question of how the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be stabilised is still open. It may play out so that Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes a state whose interests are intertwined with Croatia’s own interests, but it can also become a threat, due to its location, to Croatia’s security. The paper describes and analyses the political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of their geopolitical relevance to Croatia, explaining the political and historical framework, the direction of the current development and what it may mean to Dalmatia i.e. Croatia at large, and what Croatia can do to stabilise the neighbouring state and secure its own strategic interests.
Keywords
Croatia; Dalmatia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatians from Bosnia and Herzegovina; international community
Hrčak ID:
75125
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2011.
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