Multiethnic regionalisms in Southeastern Europe: statehood alternatives

of the flaws of Bosnia’s political system, namely the strict nature of the ethnic power-sharing institutions that favour ethnically exclusive parties and zero sum politics, few will agree with his suggestions on how to fix the system. In short, Bennett asks all the right questions but gives, sadly, all the wrong answers. Bosnia does not need another externally imposed system, instead, it has become obvious that real change must come from within Bosnia. There are signs that the system can change, and protests in recent years have demonstrated that people are more and more dissatisfied with the system. In addition to the above-mentioned flaws in Bennett’s argument, there is also a lack of empirical evidence that his suggestion would work. This not only refers to a more and more passive international community when it comes to Bosnia, but also to the fact that Horowitz’s theory of centripetalism is barely used and has not been tried in other postwar societies. To assume people can be ‘re-programmed’ and will just change their preferences in voting if the electoral system changes also assumes that ethnic identity and clientelistic networks will just go away with new electoral rules. There is no empirical evidence for this, and when Horowitz’s electoral preference system was used in the 2000 election for Republica Srpska’s Presidency, it made absolutely no difference to the way people voted. Overall, the book is interesting for anyone interested in Bosnia, the Balkans and international state-building. While Bennett adds little to the academic debate on Bosnia, he provides some interesting insights on debates about topics such as constitutional reform, police reform, the implementation of the rule of law, and the inner workings of the Office of the High Representative. While generally well written, at times the book is repetitive, and it is not well referenced.