While the Muslim-Croat Federation gained territory in Western Bosnia, NATO performed airstrikes in Serb-controlled East Bosnia during the fall of 1995 (see this picture at the Electronic Telegraph newspaper). By November Serbs controlled about 50% of Bosnian territory, a decrease from the approximately 70% previously held. A corridor is to link Gorazde, a Muslim enclave, to the main territory of the Muslim-Croat Federation. But two other Muslim towns, Zepa and Srebrenica, UN "safe areas" which were captured by the Serbs , will remain part of the Serb Republic.

The territorial change helped bring the leaders of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia to the negotiating table. Beginning in November, they met at Wright-Patterson Airforce base near Dayton, Ohio, USA, to discuss a new plan for peace. The plan was agreed on November 21.

The Dayton Accord

On December 14, 1995 Milosevic,Tudjman and Itzebegovic went to Paris to sign the Dayton Peace Accord. Under the plan, Bosnia will be a single state consisting of two parts, a Muslim-Croat Federation (51% of territory), and a Serbian Republic (49% of territory). Although under Muslim-Croat control, Sarajevo will be a multiethnic city. It would house the central government with a rotating presidency and a parliament composed of two thirds Muslim-Croat and one third Serb representatives.

The Accords also included Serb recognition of the territory of Bosnia, which was designed to deny the aims of a Greater Serbia. All refugees are allowed to return home, or if this was not possible, are entitled to reparation.

In order to implement the military aspects of Dayton, the United Nations authorized a special force of 60,000 troops, the Implementation Force or IFOR, which is commanded by NATO. American troops are included in IFOR, under (American) NATO commanders.

Note that the territories of the Federation and Republic are irregularly shaped. Political geographers term these shapes "prorupt" meaning they have extensions into other territories. Prorupt states are considered politically unstable.

Under Dayton, Bosnia went to the elections on September 14, 1996, to vote for a President, a House of Representatives and other officers. The country's President will be a rotating three-person office and will be headed for the first two years by the winner on Sept. 14: Alija Itzetbegovic. See here for more information on the parties: the Muslim SDA, the Croat HDZ, and the Serb SDS.

Note that on December 20, 1996 the UN authorization of the Implementation Force (IFOR) expired, and was replaced by a follow-on force known as the Stabilization Force (SFOR) of about 33,000 troops, including about 8,500 from the USA.

Question 2: How might the Accord boundaries be a centrifugal force, ie., something that breaks apart Bosnia? In your answer consider the shapes of the two parts of Bosnia as well as the change in control in cities such as Srebrenica, Zepa, and Mrkonjic Grad. You may want to compare the November 1995 frontline map with the Accord map on this page. (2-3 paragraphs.)
 

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