Mr. Milos Vukasinovic is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations. Students at Utah Valley University had the opportunity to listen to a lecture by Mr. Vukasinovic titled: “Bosnia and Herzegovina at the UN” on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 to better understand foreign policy priorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina on global arena. Mr. Vukasinovic began by lauding the United States for their support of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the terrible war that was only ended with the Dayton Peace Accords. Over many years, Bosnia and Herzegovina had been under the control of empires. After the fall of the Soviet Union, much work was needed to unite the multiethnic state under one constitution and one parliament. The Dayton Peace Accords were the framework used to united these post-Soviet Union nations.

Ambassador Milos Vukasinovic during presentation at UVU

Using best practices derived from several organizations, primarily the Organization of Security Corporation in Europe, the Peace accords were designed to unite the divided nations among and create a new nation. Mr. Vukasinovic was very focused on the importance of using these peace accord to build a new culture and tradition formed after the unique nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and not those of the Soviet Union. He also discussed the importance of looking to other nations that have achieved similar goals, and to apply those to the communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, the Ambassador discussed the importance of his countries application to the EU, NATO, and other multilateral organizations. The impacts of this final point are very important, the model seems to reflect the idea that the more connected a nation is, the better it can increase its growth and development.

I believe that this is a good model for mountain communities to follow. First, to separate themselves from nations that may be exploiting them; second, to form their own unique political and socioeconomic atmosphere; third, looking to other nations near or relative similarity; and fourth, a relentless desire to expand trade and foreign multilateral ties to away from isolationist policies. This final step is especially important to mountain communities. It is important that mountainous regions form strong relations with local multilateral organizations and governance. Mr. Vukasinovic finished his presentation discussing the vital role of women in the socioeconomic and political landscapes. He stated that one of the most important foreign policy priorities was to rebrand the nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina into a new image with a high level of nationalism and activity. I believe that this idea has far-reaching applications in mountainous communities as well. If mountain communities can follow this model, I believe that they will be able to rebrand themselves and effectively change the culture and tradition of mountain regions to better promote sustainable growth and development. I was impressed with Mr. Vukasinovic’s presentation and I believe that real-time application of the ideas discussed by Mr. Vukasinovic can have important effects on mountainous communities.

              Andrew Jensen, member, Foreign Affairs club at UVU