Faith in Peace:

Spirituality in the Bosnian Religious

Peacebuilding

Kiyo Miyamoto
Research Fellow
Conflict Analysis Research Centre
University of Kent, UK
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Religion and Peace

Religion can influence conflict transformation process
through a religiously motivated intervener (outsiders
and insiders) or through the religious characters of the
conflict (parties and issues).

The Former Yugoslavia

The Former Yugoslavia (Political entities)

Problems in 1980s
The death of charismatic leader, Tito, in 1980
Deterioration of economic condition
-rising unemployment rate
-oil crisis and worldwide economic depression
-soaring inflation rate and drop in GDP
Distribution inequality between the entities

Erosion of Federal Politics

The discontent towards the federal government
increased among the entities, because the federal
government was redistributing financial resources
between entities.
The federal government was consisted of the
representatives from entities (republics and provinces)
and the decision had to be based on consensus.
The federal government gradually became nonfunctional.

Rise of Ethno-Religious Nationalism

With the background of economic problems, and
erosion of the federal politics and the collapse of
communism, Yugoslav politics was coloured by ethnic
nationalism.
Ethnic nationalist politicians gain power with the
background of state economic crisis and peoples
frustration.
Eventually led to the break-up of Yugoslavia in
1991.

Bosnia-Herzegovina Ethno-religious Distribution

(1991)

Choices for Peoples in Bosnia at the Yugoslav

Disintegration
Bosnian Serbs prefer staying within the framework of
Yugoslavia which is likely to be Serb dominant.
Bosnian Muslims prefer to becoming independent,
avoiding to stay under Serb dominance.
Bosnian Croats want to have secession in their parts of
Bosnia with support from Croatia.
Subsequently war broke out in 1992.

Bosnia under the Dayton Peace Agreement

(1995)

Problems of DPA Implementation

Slow progress and difficulties in the repatriation
of refugees and internally displace persons
(IDPs).
Persistent tendency of ethnic politics.

Peacemaking and Peacebuilding

Peacemaking aims at settlement such as peace
agreement and containment of violence
Peacebuilding aims at addressing structural issues
(deep-rooted sources of conflict) and long-term
relationships between conflictants. It refers to the
overall efforts to cultivate peace culture in order to
transform conflict peacefully.

The Population Affected by Conflict

Few
Top Political
Decision-Making Elite

Elite
Leadership
Affected Population

Cultural/Social leaders
Middle-range
Political Advisors
Low-Ranking Politicians Leadership

Grass-roots
Population

Many
Source: John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies,
United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997, p 39.
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Peacemaking and Peacebuilding

Peacemaking

Peacebuilding

Inter-Religious Peacebuilding: Case Studies

Inter-religious dialogue between religious leaders in
Bosnia
Conflict resolution training seminars for religious
people
An individuals peace action and multi-faith choir

Inter-religious dialogue between religious

leaders in Bosnia
Communication and dialogue between leaders of the
religious communities: Roman Catholic, Serbian
Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish.
The leaders communicated through facilitators out of
public eyes and eventually articulated a common moral
vision.
In 1997 the leaders of four religious communities met
face to face for the first time since the outbreak of the
war.

Statement of Shared Moral Commitment

Singed by the leaders of four religious communities.
Articulated the moral principles including mutual
respect, cooperation, and common living shared
among the religious communities.
Establishement of Inter-Religious Council (IRC) to
promote further religious collaboration.

Conflict Resolution Training for Religious People

and Community Leaders from the Former
Yugoslavia
A series of training seminars for religious people and
community leaders to promote healing and
reconciliation
Conflict resolution and problem-solving skill training

Conflict Resolution Training for Religious People

and Community Leaders from the Former
Yugoslavia
Intense dialogue between seminar participants from
different religious communities led to increased mutual
understanding and trust-building
Some went on to take practical actions

Face to Face Interreligious Service in

Sarajevo
Director, Friar Ivo Markovic
Personal peacebulding actions
Pontanima
A choir composed of people from different faiths and
performed music from Christian (Catholic, Orthodox
and Protestant), Jewish, Islamic and Far East.

Pontanima

Religion: Peacemaking or Peacebuilding?

Religiously oriented peace efforts can possibly be a
part of peacemaking through personally
communicating or publically urging political leaders for
settlement.
The potential contribution of religious efforts seems
greater for peacebuilding because of it reach to wider
audience.

Assets for Religious Peacebuilding

Religious communities as institutions
Religious traditions and rituals
Spirituality

Words by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South

Africa
I told those dedicated workers for peace and
reconciliation that they should not be tempted to give
up on their crucial work because of the frustrations of
seemingly not making any significant progress, that in
our experience nothing was wasted, for when the time
was right it would all come together and, looking back,
people would realise what a critical contribution they
had made. They were part of the cosmic movement
towards unity, towards reconciliation, that has existed
from the beginning of the time.
(In Northern Ireland, 1998)