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In this analysis of the retold experiences of 27 survivors of the war in northwestern Bosnia, the aim is to describe the informants' portrayal of "war violence", "sexual war violence", "victimhood", and "reconciliation" as a social phenomenon as well as analyzing the discursive patterns that contribute to constructing the category "victim" and "perpetrator". The violence practice during the war is portrayed as organized and ritualized and this creates a picture that the violence practice became a norm in the society, rather than the exception. When, after the war, different categories claim a "victim" status, it sparks a competition for victimhood. All informants are eager to present themselves as victims while at the same time the other categories' victim status are downplayed. The stories of reconciliation are connected to the past; the interactive consequences of war-time violence are intimately linked to the narrator's war experiences. The interviewees distance themselves from some individuals or described situations. It is common that the portrayal of possible reconciliation is transformed into a depicted implacable attitude, thus the interviewees negotiate their stances: they articulate between reconciliation and implacability statements. This study shows that after the war in Bosnia, the interpretations of biographical consequences of violence are intimately connected to previous war experiences. Narratives on the phenomenon "war violence" and "sexual war violence" depict a decay of pre-war social order. The use of violence during the war is described as organized and ritualized, which implies that the use of violence became a norm in society, rather than the exception. The narratives on the phenomenon "war violence" produce and reproduce the image of human suffering and slaughter. Those subjected to violence are portrayed in a de-humanized fashion and branded as suitable to be exposed to it. In these stories, morally correct actions are constructed as a contrast to the narratives on war violence. In these descriptions, the perpetrator is depicted as a dangerous, evil, and ideal enemy. He is portrayed as a real and powerful yet alien criminal who is said to pose a clear threat to the social order existing before the war. The narratives on wartime violence, war perpetrators, and those subjected to violence during war are enhanced with symbolicism of ritualized ethnic violence ("cockade," "chetnik," "Serb," "Muslim," "warlord"). On one hand, the narrators make an ethnic generalization based on the differences between the ethnic categorizations; on the other hand, they present their own physical existence and ethnic identity and that of those subjected to violence as being threatened by the violent situation. The disintegration of the existing, pre-war social order produces and reproduces a norm resolution that enables the ritualized war-time use of violence. This development allows the normalization of war violence in this time period even though the result, as this study shows, means human suffering and the slaughter of humans. This study presents this development in society ambivalently, as both allowed and normatively correct (during the war) and as prohibited and condemned (primarily in retrospect, in post-war narratives). It seems as if the category "war violence" and "sexual war violence" means different things depending on whether it happened during war or not, whether it is retold or observed, and who is telling the story. For some persons, violence targeting civilians during the war is an act of heroism. The Holocaust during World War Two was in many cases highly efficient and industrialized; the typical goal was to kill from a distance, impersonally. Researchers have noted that those who climbed the ranks to leadership positions or were in charge at concentration camps seemed to have engaged in very personal, sadistic acts in Germany during WWII. Is there an interaction of rank/power in wartime and level of motivation/energy input required for violence (ie, those in charge require less energy input because of the factors that put them in charge in the first place)? The stories and phrasing in this paper emphasize a distant, evil, and/or powerful leader who motivates the crowd (perhaps in part by symbolically reducing an ethnic target to something like a dog or rat) or gives orders, with the distinction from Holocaust violence that the leaders in these stories were neighbors, etc., of those they were harming and killing. In general contrast, the war violence in Bosnia was more broadly characterized by the individualized use of violence, in which the perpetrators often knew those subjected to violence. The stories reveal that firearms were seldom used; instead, the weapons were baseball bats or knives. These features can be compared to examples of violence in Rwanda, where the violence was more similar (and even more "savage") to that in my material than the typical examples of industrialized extermination violence of World War Two. The perpetrators in this study are often portrayed as people who enjoyed humiliating, battering, murdering, and inflicting pain in different ways. This characterization is a contrast to Collins (2008), who suggests that soldiers are not good in acting out close violence and that individuals are mostly inclined to consensus and solidarity. An explanation, in my study, of the soldiers' actions can be that soldiers in a war are pressured into being brave in close combat, the aim being to reign over the Others, the enemy. During war, enemies are targets of violence, to be subjected to it and neutralized. Soldiers and police in northwestern Bosnia were not close to any battlefield, and civilians thus were framed in the enemy role. By exposing civilians to violence, soldiers proved their supremacy over the enemy even when the enemy was an abstract type, unarmed and harmless. Another explanation might be found in the degree of mobilization and emotional charge that occurred before the war, through the demonization of the enemy. People were probably brutalized through this process. Those interpersonal interactions that caused the violence continue even after the violent situation is over. Recollections from perpetrators and those subjected to violence of the war do not exist only as verbal constructions in Bosnia of today. Stories about violent situations live their own lives after the war and continue being important to individuals and social life. Individuals who were expelled from northwestern Bosnia during the war in the 1990s are, in a legal sense, in a recognized violence-afflicted victim category. They suffered crimes against humanity, including most types of violent crimes. Several perpetrators were sentenced by the Hague Tribunal and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on War Crime. The crimes committed in northwestern Bosnia are qualified as genocide according to indictments against former Serbian leaders Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. All of the interviewees in this study experienced and survived the war in northwestern Bosnia. These individuals have a present, ongoing relation with these communities: Some live there permanently, and some spend their summers in northwestern Bosnia. An analysis of the processing of experienced or described violent situations in a society that exists as a product of a series of violent acts during the war must be conducted in parallel both at the institutional and individual levels. Institutions in the administrative entity Republika Srpska deny genocide, and this approach to war-time events becomes a central theme in future, post-war analysis of the phenomena "war violence," "sexual war violence", "victimhood," and "reconciliation". The existence of Republika Srpska is based on genocide committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the political elite's denial of the systematic acts of violence during the war that have been conveyed by the Hague Tribunal, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on War Crime, and Bosnian media. The narratives in my empirical material seem to be influenced by (or coherent with) the rhetoric mediated in these fora. When informants emphasize extermination and the systematization of violence during the war, they produce and reproduce the image of a mutual struggle on a collective level. The aim of this struggle seems to be that the described acts of violence be recognized as genocide. Another interesting aspect of the phenomenon "war violence," "victimhood," and "reconciliation" to be examined in a future analysis, regards the stories of perpetrators describing violent situations. Conversations with these actors and an analysis of their stories might add a nuanced perspective of the phenomenon "war violence," "victimhood," and "reconciliation". Another question that emerged during my work on this article is, What importance is given to stories told by the perpetrator of violence and those subjected to violence in the development of a post-war society? I believe it is of great importance to study stories in both categories. By recounting their stories, those subjected to violence could obtain recognition and some degree of self-esteem and the perpetrators be given a chance to explain to themselves and others, display shame over their actions, and possibly restore their social status. Without this type of process, those who are subjected to violence risk a life without recognition, and the perpetrators risk being permanently bound by their war-time actions, a clearly unstable foundation for the future development of a post-war society. ; Panel with Presenters

Aimed at protection of the market and consumers, the control of solvency is very important for insurer's business activities. Regarding the fact that insurer's insolvency causes a chain of problems, the state regulation is needed that forces insurers to keep their solvency at the necessary level. Insurance companies in the European Union work on the implementation of a new regulatory framework defined by the Solvency II Directive, which demands a better risk management as well as a better connection of capital and risk profile, increased transparency, and higher flexibility of insurance companies' business. In the period to come, this would present a huge challenge for the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) as well, which would need to prepare their resources for the introduction of the Solvency II concept. For this purpose, the analysis of the current condition of the insurance market in BiH was made. By using the primary research and applying the survey as a questioning technique, the attitudes were gathered on the current conditions and possibilities for the implementation of the Solvency II Directive into the business activities of insurance companies in BiH.

This paper will explore the ideas and problems of forging a common Bosnian identity during more than twenty years of Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To that effect the influence of Austrian "civilizing missionaries," notably Benjamin Kállay, the Joint Minister of Finance (in effect the governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina), on the three principal Bosnian communities, political elites, and intelligentsia is overriding. This paper will examine how the idea of Bosniak identity interacted with the realities that were already put into place at the time of the Austro-Hungarian occupation in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Insights offered by a close reading of Kállay's books and writings go a long way in explaining his intellectual formation in Hungary, the broadening of horizons that attended his first diplomatic mission in Belgrade, and the ways in which his appetite for history and culture affected his liberal worldview and statecraft. The paper discusses the circumstances that inspired Kállay to perceive Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country that, for a culturally oriented person like himself, offered a paradigm of how to "build the new upon the old…to retain the ancient traditions of the land vilified and purified by modern ideas." The author utilizes the existing literature on the topic, most prominently Tomislav Kraljačić's and Robin Okay's books on Kállay, and other authors' insights into Bosnian Muslims experience under Austrian occupation, variety of literature and sources in relevant languages of the area, as well as Kallay's own writings.

Abstract
Although representing half of the world population, women remain largely excluded from political power and government structures. Various strategies have been introduced to increase women's political representation, including electoral gender quotas. This paper explores the impact of electoral gender quotas on women's quantitative participation in politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, analysing quota impact in combination with other related factors, such as the quota design, implementation and broader political context. A diversity of techniques has been used to collect a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, including academic resources collection and analysis, desk research, statistical data analysis and online questionnaire. The paper argues that electoral gender quotas have generally had a positive impact on getting women elected in BiH, though their efficacy depends on their formulation and other aspects of electoral law. Still, quantitative representation of women is not sufficient to facilitate their agency in politics. Social attitudes also continue to affect the electoral success of women once they secure a spot on the candidate list. Therefore, quotas must be implemented within a broader democratic, accountable and gender-sensitive political context to deliver qualitative representation of women in politics. Finally, the paper offers concrete recommendations to promote women's political participation in BiH.

Between April 1992 and December 1995, more than 100,000 people were killed in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The terrible atrocities committed in this period have been much discussed and studied and many prosecuted as acts of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. But so far, the academic scholarship has focused on the role of the military in these events. This has come at the expense of considering the police's role, which Nielsen here demonstrates as crucial. Nielsen traces the origins of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the police and associated paramilitary groups. Nielsen makes this ground-breaking case by drawing on a host of confidential archival sources, academic research and practical experience as a widely cited expert witness in the most notorious of the war crimes tribunals. His innovative new history sheds light on wider issues regarding the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Balkan wars and the region today.

Mechanisms of direct democracy enable citizens to get involved in the decision-making processes over common values and questions of general interest, either by initiating certain laws and regulations or simply by deciding upon the public policy proposals made by the government. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, elements of direct democracy are not consistently represented throughout the country due to the specificity of its structure and constitutional history. Various scholars have diametrically opposed views on these forms of decision-making and continue arguing either in favour or against their application in complex and multicultural states. The greatest concern is whether mechanisms of direct democracy indeed provide majority group within one state with a power to blatantly outvote minorities and thus endanger their rights, or rather serve as a tool for promotion and better protection of minority rights and civil rights in general. As of yet, there are not enough comprehensive empirical studies of the concrete effects of direct democracy in multicultural societies, with lots of hypotheses still remaining in the field of speculation. Nevertheless, its mere idea delivers much more positive and constructive elements for a society that declares itself as being democratic. After trying to firstly (a) define the notion and variations of different mechanisms of direct democracy, this paper (b) delves into the complex legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, relying on the comparative and descriptive method in analysing and interpreting the existing data (primary sources – legal documents, and secondary sources – academic contributions), and (c) reflects on the recent developments and searches for the specific elements of direct democracy, while evaluating possible outcomes of their concrete application in a divided multiethnic society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, concluding with (d) the framing of policy recommendations on the basis of findings using the prescriptive method.

Mechanisms of direct democracy enable citizens to get involved in the decision-making processes over common values and questions of general interest, either by initiating certain laws and regulations or simply by deciding upon the public policy proposals made by the government. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, elements of direct democracy are not consistently represented throughout the country due to the specificity of its structure and constitutional history. Various scholars have diametrically opposed views on these forms of decision-making and continue arguing either in favour or against their application in complex and multicultural states. The greatest concern is whether mechanisms of direct democracy indeed provide majority group within one state with a power to blatantly outvote minorities and thus endanger their rights, or rather serve as a tool for promotion and better protection of minority rights and civil rights in general. As of yet, there are not enough comprehensive empirical studies of the concrete effects of direct democracy in multicultural societies, with lots of hypotheses still remaining in the field of speculation. Nevertheless, its mere idea delivers much more positive and constructive elements for a society that declares itself as being democratic. After trying to firstly (a) define the notion and variations of different mechanisms of direct democracy, this paper (b) delves into the complex legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, relying on the comparative and descriptive method in analysing and interpreting the existing data (primary sources – legal documents, and secondary sources – academic contributions), and (c) reflects on the recent developments and searches for the specific elements of direct democracy, while evaluating possible outcomes of their concrete application in a divided multiethnic society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, concluding with (d) the framing of policy recommendations on the basis of findings using the prescriptive method.

In 1997, the US State Department's Bureau for Population & Refugee Migration funded two pilot projects in Bosnia & Herzegovina, each providing for the rehabilitation of 40 homes (20 for Serbs & 20 for Muslims) & the return of pre-war owners & families to the town of Sipovo in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia.