The Gulf in Bosnia and Herzegovina: an (un)intentional consequence of peace

Abstract

The rapidly changing (sub)urban and architectural landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina instigated this research in the surge in foreign real estate investment after the war in the 1990s. This article focuses on the influx of capital from the Gulf States that was directed into residential developments, tourist resorts and commercial buildings. It scrutinises the Dayton Peace Agreement and its role as a state-building mechanism that sets this case study apart from its global counterparts. To unpack its complexity, a mix of different methodologies has been employed. The Agreement operated within the specific ethno-religious context of the region. It was underlined by a structural violence deeply embedded at its core. As such, the Agreement produced a new milieu that proved conducive to the flow of global capital. But the influx of capital from the Gulf States challenged the pre-existing binary relationship between the Agreement and the ethno-religious identities of the region. This intense encounter produced a milieu of corruption and underhanded practices, including the deregulation of planning policies and land grabbing. It also endorsed the instrumentalisation of religion as a bait for foreign investment.