Summary: The internationally supported peace operation in Bosnia, part of a long-term peace process, has helped that country take important first steps toward achieving the Dayton Agreement's goals. Forces led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have sustained an environment without active military hostilities, providing time for the peace process to move forward and allowing the implementation of the agreement's civil aspects to begin. Progress has been made in establishing some political and economic institutions, and economic recovery has started in the Federation. Nevertheless, the transition to a unified, democratic government that respects the rule of law has not occurred, due principally to the failure of Bosnia's political leaders to fulfill their obligations under the Dayton Agreement. Many Bosnian Serb and Croat political leaders still embrace their wartime aims of controlling their own ethnically pure states; Bosnian Muslims support a unified, multiethnic state, but with themselves in control. International and U.S. officials, including senior NATO officers, were adamant that Radovan Karadzic, a Bosnian Serb indicted for war crimes, be arrested or otherwise removed from Bosnia because of his continuing political power and influence in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb entity. Meanwhile, the cost of U.S. military and civilian participation in Bosnia has risen. Originally estimated to cost $3.2 billion through fiscal year 1977, the total estimated cost for U.S. participation in the operation has since risen to $7.8 billion, largely due to the decision in December 1996 to extend the presence of U.S. forces in Bosnia until June 1998.
