Gary Shapiro, the executive director of Conflict Resolution Catalyst, offered an eyewitness' perspective last night on the situation in Bosnia and said the region is far from peaceful.
"While officially the war is over, in reality, peace has just barely begun," said Shapiro, who spent time in Yugoslavia and then four years in the Soviet Union training in conflict resolution.
Approximately 20 professors, mediators and representatives of local conflict resolution organizations attended the lecture titled "Eyewitness in Bosnia," in the Rockefeller Center. Shapiro's organization, Conflict Resolution Catalyst, is a conflict resolution organization based in Montpelier, Vt.
"It's going to take a long time," Shapiro said.
He emphasized four themes -- time, patience, diversity and complexity. He argued that observance of these themes is essential to the peace process in Bosnia.
"What I don't want to do is give you the definitive analysis," Shapiro said. "I want to focus more on the future than on the past."
Shapiro mentioned that he visited Bosnia six times since the war started.
Quoting former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Shapiro said "You don't make peace with your friends. You make it with your enemies."
But he said such an outlook is unrealistic for the Bosnian people.
Those victimized by "rape, Serb shellings and ethnic cleansing are not so willing to be broad-minded and open," Shapiro said. "Their daily life has been reduced to a series of humiliation."
Shapiro targeted the debility that small communities in Bosnia have incurred in recent years while acknowledging the inherent controversy that is provoked by the Bosnian crisis.
"The peace process takes place on a political level with the peace agreement," he said. "It needs to take place on a local [inter-village] level."
Shapiro gave an example of what a local Bosnian would tell an outsider about the feeling of neglect felt by many villagers.
"No one asks us what we think," he said. "No one asks us what we want. We have no power here."
The key to long term peace, Shapiro said, is a question of empowerment. He said he is trying to facilitate negotiations and instill a heightened sense of safety among local Bosnian people.
"Every side feels that they're a victim and every side can prove it," he said. "There's no question that a large number of Muslims have been killed by the Serbs and the Croats."
"Nothing justifies killing human beings," Shapiro added.
Shapiro said the importance of patience must be seen "on the part of the people there and by those on the outside who want to see [peace]."
He said it will also take many more supporters of his type of work to promote peace in the region.
"Obviously our single effort is not going to help the two million refugees," he said.
He said his organization works with "local citizen groups to support their efforts in making positive change in the community."
It is currently organizing a training program in Bosnia to teach people conflict resolution through neighborhood facilitators, Shapiro said.
Conflict Resolution Catalyst also tries to "help communications, because it's very difficult to travel even though the war is over," he said. "There's no phone service and the refugees are afraid of returning home because they fear crossing the checkpoints."
