Both, Norbert. From Indifference to Entrapment: The Netherlands and the Yugoslav Crisis, 1990-1995.

Both’s book provides an analysis of Dutch foreign policy regarding the crisis in former Yugoslavia between 1990 and 1995. Discussing the different phases in the process that started with an indifferent position towards the parties involved, and led to an immersion in the war in Bosnia, the book’s main conclusion is that the Netherlands played an important and influential role in the international community’s intervention in this period. It focuses on the context of the international community and omits a discussion of the domestic debate in the Netherlands after the fall of Srebrenica. Additionally, the book does not concern itself with the actual fall and its aftermath impact on Dutch society. Instead, it seeks to trace the steps that led the Netherlands to become such an important factor in the events. Next to providing some suggestions which are mostly relevant for the field of foreign policy studies, the book’s discussion of the self-entrapment of the Netherlands in the Bosnian war is relevant for the field of Perpetrator Studies. It rescales questions of implication and the grey zone to a national level.

Author of this entry: Lisanne Meinen

Both, Norbert. From Indifference to Entrapment: The Netherlands and the Yugoslav Crisis, 1990-1995. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2000.