Description
Book SynopsisThis indictment of the partition of Bosnia argues that the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina is based on "unity in diversity" and asks why Western liberal democracies so readily accepted segregation as a solution to the contradictions of ethnic diversity and examines Bosnia's new place in Europe.
Trade Review“The Denial of Bosnia is a vital contribution to our understanding of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as an important perspective on Bosnia’s past and future. Mahmutcehajic analyzes Bosnia’s role, both symbolically and geopolitically, in the way Europe and the world community in general organize social and national life. This book, by one of Bosnia’s cultural leaders, is one that is vitally needed.”
—Michael Sells,Haverford College, Author of The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia
“For many outsiders, Bosnia has already been virtually relegated to the backwaters of recent history, as genocide gave way to uncertain peace, and the stage set gradually moved southward to Kosovo. But in The Denial of Bosnia, a portrayal of the attempted destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina by forces internal and external, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic demonstrates, through the close interweaving of philosophical, political, and theological discourse, the dangers still inherent in the international real politic approach to Bosnia and, conversely, Bosnia’s pivotal role in a new, and potentially more humane, social order. In this rich and multifaceted work, the author captures the essence of Bosnia, while reaching beyond it in his analysis of the forces which combined in an attempt to destroy it.”
—Carole Hodge, University of Glasgow
“Mahmutcehajic’s passionate treatise on the history and fate of Bosnia is both a bitter denunciation of Milosevic’s and Tudjman’s destruction and division of Bosnia and an eloquent voice of dissent within Bosnia that has long needed to be heard. . . . Mahmutcehajic forces readers to examine anew the nature of religious conflict in Bosnia, positing that the country’s destruction was not the result of religious conflict; instead, he argues, the conflict is ‘a political betrayal of religion’ (whose ‘core elements can be seen as transcending division and conflicts’).”
—Publishers Weekly
“Rusmir Mahmutcehajic’s essay makes a singular and vital contribution to the understanding of the Bosnian War. . . . Mahmutcehajic writes from a privileged vantage point that endows his essay with a particular authority. . . . In sum, Mahmutcehajic’s essay is an incisive and invaluable addition to the literature on a war that still disturbs and puzzles many. It is highly relevant to scholars of the region as well as analysts of the international system, especially given the importance of competing conceptions of community in the current volatile climate.”
—David Campbell Slavic Review
