Brussels, 13/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - With an economy which neither exports nor attracts foreign investment, a working-age population with very low activity rates (some 30%, compared to an EU average of 64%), and international isolation, Bosnia-Herzegovina has been in stagnation for almost ten years, whereas its neighbours are working towards European integration. In a report entitled "Post-Industrial Society and the Authoritarian Temptation", the ESI (European Stability Initiative) has analysed governance in Bosnia and identified the reasons for their passivity.
Despite a restructuring of the State system, the findings are unequivocal: the government in Bosnia-Herzegovina continues to show staggering inaction in the face of the escalating economic and social crisis. Apart from elements which are common to all of the former Eastern bloc countries, such as industrial decline and rural under-development, Bosnia-Herzegovina is notable for the complete lack of initiatives in the fundamental areas such as industrial, agricultural, town and country planning resource management policies, to name but a few. According to the authors, the local political élite are not making much effort, and are also somewhat untrusting of participative democracy. This means that citizens' expectations and confidence seem low, and the mobilisation of interest groups is virtually non-existent, which merely serves to reinforce the status quo. Here, the authors believe, lies the "authoritarian temptation" of a political system in which the international partners take on the role of external regulator and source of funding. A genuine political process must be created in Bosnia, but "the international community should stop encouraging old habits of dependence", notes the report. It also proposes that the EU offer Bosnia-Herzegovina the same support as it has to candidate countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. (The report can be consulted at http://www.esiweb.org ).