Start Date
4-23-2018 5:30 PM
End Date
4-23-2018 6:00 PM
Disciplines
Infra-Balkans Relations & External Relations of the Balkan Region
Description
The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated a military intervention in 1995 within Bosnia and Herzegovina, after years of indecisiveness regarding who was responsible for intervention and the American public’s opposition to U.S. involvement. The pattern of U.S. intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was guided by the nature of U.S. domestic political attitudes. Prior to the breakout of conflict in 1992, the American public was not primarily concerned with the situation in the former Yugoslavia and particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The administration of U.S. President George H.W. Bush was selectively engaged in the situation in Bosnia and preferred to defer from direct engagement in the initial months of the conflict. While under the leadership of President Clinton, the United States had a more engaged approach due to the “CNN Effect” and the drastic shifts in public opinion leading up to the 1996 presidential election. The paper will analyze the motivation behind the U.S. intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then it will assess the geostrategic and moral considerations of the United States relative to American public opinion during that time. In order to analyze the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will continue to discuss the historical events and how public opinion shifted as a result of these events. This paper concludes by discussing the public opinion trends and the political rationale for intervention that was ultimately driven by concerns over the upcoming presidential election.
Taking the Temperature of Public Opinion: U.S. Intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiated a military intervention in 1995 within Bosnia and Herzegovina, after years of indecisiveness regarding who was responsible for intervention and the American public’s opposition to U.S. involvement. The pattern of U.S. intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was guided by the nature of U.S. domestic political attitudes. Prior to the breakout of conflict in 1992, the American public was not primarily concerned with the situation in the former Yugoslavia and particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The administration of U.S. President George H.W. Bush was selectively engaged in the situation in Bosnia and preferred to defer from direct engagement in the initial months of the conflict. While under the leadership of President Clinton, the United States had a more engaged approach due to the “CNN Effect” and the drastic shifts in public opinion leading up to the 1996 presidential election. The paper will analyze the motivation behind the U.S. intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then it will assess the geostrategic and moral considerations of the United States relative to American public opinion during that time. In order to analyze the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will continue to discuss the historical events and how public opinion shifted as a result of these events. This paper concludes by discussing the public opinion trends and the political rationale for intervention that was ultimately driven by concerns over the upcoming presidential election.
