 The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance has mainly happened in Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and much of the alliance's growth in the last ten years has been in the Balkans. The most recent countries to join were Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020, and it looks as if one more country in the region is keen on joining, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Well, by keen, I mean certain groups within the country are, while others, as you will soon learn, would not like the idea of being part of NATO at all. Today, I'm discussing whether Bosnia and Herzegovina can join NATO or not, and whether it is a good idea for both the country itself and the region in general. First we must address the simple sounding question. Why is there such a dispute on whether Bosnia can join NATO? I mean, since 70% of the population supports joining, they should just go ahead with it, right? Well, not really, it's a lot more complicated than that. Fellow creator Living Ironically in Europe made a great video on the politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but simply put, the country has two different political entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Republika Srpska. The former is Majority Bosniak, with a large croat minority, while Republika Srpska is Majority Serb. To make things even more complex, the country has three presidents, representing each of the major ethnicities there, but that's beside the point. The two political entities work somewhat separately from each other, and therefore both need to agree on something before a decision can be made. Tying all this back together, the Federation supports joining NATO by a vast margin of 90%, while the views on joining in the Serb Republic are generally unfavorable, with only 40% supporting such a move. Mind you, these figures are presented in 2010, and no such poll has been conducted since. So why exactly is there such division on the matter between the entities? And maybe a better question to ask is how did Bosnia come to look like this in the first place? The Bosnian War really defined much of the politics of the region today, and this can definitely be seen in the way Bosnia's politics work. Yugoslavia was barely being held together in the year 1992, and the Croatian and Bosnian independence armies were fighting against the Serb army, representing Yugoslavia. With NATO bombings and airstrikes being targeted mainly at Serb armies, the war ended in 1995, with Serbian interests really taking a hit from the treaty. Many Serbs were now living outside of the Serbian nation state. However, within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Serbska was formed for the large Serbian minority in the country to have a peace autonomy. And now, our questions about the formation of Republika Serbska and the Serbian attitude towards NATO have been answered. For this next part of the video, I'm going to discuss two conflicting arguments on whether Bosnia being part of NATO is beneficial from a regional standpoint, or whether it creates further tensions. The importance of NATO and its expansion can make compelling claims in why Bosnia should be included in the alliance. First, within Bosnia, the country would find itself in the strongest military alliance in the world, that of course being theoretical, as the alliance has 70% of the world's military spending, and includes some of the current global military juggernauts. In theory, Bosnia would never have to worry about international defense ever again, as if it ever came under threat, the entire Western world and then some would come to its aid. As I have already stated, around 70% of the country's population already supports joining the alliance as well. This move would also be strategic for NATO as a whole, further consolidating their influence in the region. The membership could stunt bigger countries like Russia or China in their political interests in the western Balkans. Currently in NATO, Turkey is the biggest supporter of the nation's membership. Now it's time to look at some arguments on why this integration of Bosnia into NATO is a destabilizing force in the region. One of the hopefully obvious issues is the one regarding Republika Srpska. Most of the people in the region are already opposed to joining the alliance in the first place, and such a move may remind citizens of the region of past tensions. Let's just say that the NATO alliance and the Serbian populations of the Balkans have not seen eye-to-eye in recent years, mainly due to the Bosnian War, but that's not the only reason. NATO supported the Kosovo Liberation Army against Serbia on the coast of a war in 1999, and most of the alliance's member states recognized the region's independence. Though Serbia is mostly committed to military neutrality, Bosnia joining NATO would now mean that Serbia would be surrounded by member states on all sides, putting the nation in a position it would rather not be in. I mean, come on, 80% of the nation's population is against NATO membership, and in a similar poll it was found that 54% of Serbians had a negative opinion of the alliance. In terms of cooperating with NATO but not joining, only 33% of Serbians were opposed, though about half were neutral on the matter. In summary, the main issues with Bosnia joining would have to do with its implications on the Serb populations of the region and the revival of past tensions. Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently the closest country to joining NATO. It has enacted a membership action plan, which means they only have a few things left to do before they are formally invited to join the alliance. However, the speed at which these tasks can be accomplished depends mainly on the attitude of the Serb population of the country and of Republika Serbska. The Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Milorad Budik, has been opposed to some propositions to push the country into the alliance. All in all, Bosnia joining NATO would further consolidate the alliance's military power in a historically unstable region and would reflect the attitude of 70% of Bosnian citizens. On the other hand, it would also be seen as disenfranchising to the Serb population of Bosnia and also as a bit problematic to Serbia, which would find itself surrounded by NATO allies. Like many political discussions, history makes talking about this topic difficult, but it is still worth discussing and seeing both sides of the argument. Thank you all for watching. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this video with all of your friends. 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