A political psychological approach to ethnic conflict and its resolution: The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The study aims to bring an approach from the perspective of "Social Constructivist Theory" to the political psychological driving forces of mass behavior and the mechanisms of politicization of ethnic differences in intractable or prone to intractable ethnic conflicts. Accordingly, the biggest obstacles to lasting peace are those of a psychological nature. Ethnic groups that have been deeply traumatized, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are trying to repair the damage to their group identity with collective consciousness and self-help. However, this situation creates a victimization-based security dilemma. The victim competition and victimization culture of the parties; It complicates the awareness of common history, the empathy of the parties and the establishment of lasting peace. This remains an issue in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the region offers important lessons for understanding ethnic conflicts. Accordingly, the peace established at the table with the Dayton Peace Agreement shows that although the parties stopped the hot conflicts, it did not stop the "production of emotion", which is a kind of security issue. As a frozen conflict area, Bosnia and Herzegovina presents a kind of showdown environment that emphasizes the "us-other" distinction and does not accept reconciliation between the parties. Prominent ethnocentric and exclusionary attitudes and feelings in all areas of social life; threatens the future development and security of the region. This shows the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand the effect of emotions on the conflict process in ethnic issues.