Global China and the Quest for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author: Anastas Vangeli

In the past decade China has had a significant footprint in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Even if it has not dramatically reshaped lived realities, China has changed the agenda and debate on BiH’s future and is now an unavoidable topic. Yet, while the complex and uneasy peacebuilding process in BiH, and China’s growing presence and impacts in the country and the broader region, have been individually studied at length, their intersection is rarely discussed. While neither BiH or Chinese representatives frame Sino-BiH relations against the backdrop of peacebuilding, nor use peacebuilding vocabulary (unlike in relations between BiH and the West, where this is a central trope), for China, the pursuit and maintenance of peace remains a long-term goal in its relations with BiH their outset. China’s vision and methods, however, differ significantly from those of Western liberal actors. Thus, this paper assesses how China’s nominally peace oriented developmentalist and pragmatic approach is reshaping BiH’s peacebuilding landscape, and what this intersection reveals about the evolving dynamics of global peace paradigms beyond the country and its region itself.

The Global Transitions Series looks at fragmentations in the global order and how these impact peace and transition settlements. It explores why and how different third-party actors – state, intergovernmental, and non-governmental – intervene in conflicts, and how they see themselves contributing to reduction of conflict and risks of conflict relapse. The series critically assesses the growth and diversification of global and regional responses to contemporary conflicts. It also asks how local actors are navigating this multiplicity of mediators and peacebuilders and how this is shaping conflict outcomes and post-conflict governance.