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Study Guide
International Relations/Political
Science
Objective: Students will better understand the contemporary conflict in the Balkans in
a larger geopolitical context.
Method: Students will watch the documentary in class. This will be supplemented
by links on the website (www.crucibleofwar.com) and additional readings selected by the
instructor.
Checking for Understanding: Questions for Discussion
- Show students four maps of the Balkans:
(1) during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, (2) one after World War I, and (3) one after World
War II, and (4) one from today. Ask them to look at what other countries and waterways are
nearby. Discuss why they think southeastern Europe is important to the rest of the
world.
- How were foreign entities (individual
nations and international organizations) involved in the Balkans in the 1990s?
Students should be familiar with the major countries and institutions involved, as well as
such acronyms as IFOR, KFOR, SFOR, and UNPROFOR.
Independent Activity (Written)
- In 1995, the
warring sides signed a General Framework Agreement (known more commonly as the Dayton
Accords). How would you assess the success of the Dayton Agreement? Compare Annex 7
on the return of refugees and displaced people with the realities of at least two people
profiled in the film.
- Select one of the following and
describe its impact on U.S. foreign policy in the Balkans during the Clinton
Administration: (a) World War II; (b) The Vietnam War; (c) The Gulf War; (d) The end of
the Cold War; (e) The role of the press; (f) The relationship between the President and
CongressIndependent Activity (Oral)
You are the press spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State. A reporter has just
asked you why the U.S. got involved so deeply in Bosnia and Kosovo and not in Rwanda,
another country which was undergoing ethnic genocide in the same period. How would you
respond?
Group Activity/Project
Students will participate in a role-playing activity based on actual events. In
September 1991, the UN Security Council voted to impose an arms embargo on all of the
countries of what was Yugoslavia (following the secession by Slovenia and Croatia and the
beginning of war). It is now July 1995 and the war is well underway in Bosnia.
More than 27,000 UN peacekeeping forces are in Bosnia, but several forces have
recently been taken hostage and they have been unable to prevent the seizure of the
Bosnian Muslim enclave of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serb forces. Small teams will each
be assigned a role and will have to declare their stance on whether the arms embargo
should continue. The roles are:
French
President Francois Mitterand
UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
U.S. President Bill Clinton
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman
U.S. Senator Robert Dole
Closure
Ask students to
discuss the following “what if” question:
In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared
independence from Yugoslavia. How might things have been different if no other
countries in the world had recognized their independence?
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