Commentary: “Anything Is Better than Nothing;” Radovan Karadzic’s Arrest

Although the Economist changed the title of its article from “Arrest of a monster” to “Arrest of a strongman,” one can quickly gather that Radovan Karadzic is not someone who should be ignored.  Yet, for 13 years, he lived as a fugitive, avoiding accountability for his alleged involvement (or some say, orchestration) of the genocide of Bosnian Muslims and Croats during the Bosnian War of the 1990s.  Former U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke told CNN that, “Without Radovan Karadzic, this thing wouldn't have happened,” claiming that Karadzic was the “intellectual leader” behind the ethnic cleansing.

Of course, then, Karadzic’s arrest is constructive, because he will have to answer to the charges against him, but his arrest also paints a picture of our global community.  Many officials, especially in the EU, are praising Serbia for bringing in Karadzic; his arrest is expected to transform Serbia’s progress towards EU membership, which has been slow and tumultuous largely due to Serbia’s reluctance to hold those suspected of war crimes accountable.  Now, because of the arrest, the Economist asserts:

“Serbia's friends in other European capitals will demand that its path towards the EU be accelerated. This in turn will speed the European integration of the whole region.”

Despite the wave of EU optimism, and although Serge Brammertz, the chief prosecutor in the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, praised the arrest as "an important day for the victims," the picture is not entirely rosy.  Rather, one Bosnian Muslim refugee claimed that, in her opinion, the EU accession incentive was the only reason why Karadzic did not remain a fugitive indefinitely.

What does this say about our international system?  Perhaps it says that, even in a world of international interconnectedness, treaties, and IGOs, we cannot expect that countries will act altruistically.  Perhaps it speaks of the importance of diplomacy and incentives to accomplishing international accountability goals.  If this is the case, we need to spend time thinking about the implications of the incentives system.  For example, EU membership currently cannot be retracted; once Serbia is allowed to join, the EU will have lost its bargaining chip.

Beyond her (realistic/pessimistic) outlook towards Karadzic’s capture, my Bosnian friend also expressed her dissatisfaction with the International Tribunal, claiming that the sentences are weak in comparison to the magnitude of the atrocities.  She summed up her feelings in a way that also reverberates for our international community, claiming that “anything is better than nothing.”  While our systems of IGOs, international courts, and treaties are far from perfect, they are integral to our success as an international community, and they are significantly better than nothing.