Bosnia and Herzegovina's Think Thank Landscape: Issues, Characteristics, and Opportunities

The individual think tank landscape of each CEE country is characterized by unique issues, characteristics, and opportunities facing national the think-tank sectors. This chapter addresses the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Namely, after the full-scale interethnic and interreligious conflict which Bosnia and Herzegovina faced in the 1990s, the country is still going through a process of shaping its own identity. This implies the need for more tailored civil engagement initiatives and more multicultural dialogue, which may be delivered by the Bosnian think tank network that has already accumulated the experience of dealing with reconciliation issues in the early 2000s. Another prospective policy area whose significance cannot be underestimated is EU integration. Although present day accession to the EU is foreign policy priority number one, truly little research effort has been channelled so far to evaluate the current situation hindering the accession process and to support national policymakers. Foreign policy and international affairs constitute as little as 8.3% out of the total policy area distribution.