How Effective Was Civil Affairs in Bosnia

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How Effective Was Civil Affairs in Bosnia

B.E Lescher

Civil Affairs has been employed throughout America's history. Civil military operations were used in the Mexican-American War, Spanish-American War, WWI and II, and Vietnam before Bosnia. In each conflict civil military capabilities were developed. After these conflicts civil military expertise dissolved and were left to figure out how to deal with civilian population. This paper examines 'Civil Affairs in Bosnia.' Bosnia lies on the cross roads of empires and religions. Bosnia was at ground zero of regional power struggles. These events affected the population leaving scars to be exploited by leaders. Politicians could make peace among the people or create wars, as in Bosnia. This war eventually caused the UN, the international community, and NATO to get involved. The Dayton Accords ended the fighting, requiring NATO to deploy IFOR. IFOR succeeded in winning peace, but needed to transition to SFOR to maintain peace. Civil Affairs came to the forefront during the Bosnian War. CA's efforts were successful, but some areas needed improvement. In every engagement there is a lesson to be learned, in Bosnia it was the value of Civil Affairs. 'There will be other Bosnias in our lives.'-Richard Holbrooke, End of War.