‘Protection and Promotion of BiH’s Citizens’ Interests Abroad’: Foreign Policy Relations with Diaspora

Abstract

In this chapter, we build on diaspora governance literature by examining Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) attempts to manage the relationship with its diaspora and the development of relevant foreign policy tools within different state-level institutions. We examine this development and general trends from the perspective of state policy, with a particular focus on the foreign policy aspects of institutions’ engagement with diaspora. We focus on official state policies but acknowledge that throughout the last two decades, there have also been non-state- and entity-level attempts to engage with different subsections of the diaspora population, including engagement by political parties in an effort to ensure higher diaspora voter turnout. However, these have been limited and without many demonstrable results. We provide a background on the Bosnian diaspora and contextualize the importance of the homeland—diaspora relationship over time. Ultimately, we examine how there is an increased focus on building stronger relationships toward the diaspora with a particular recognition of this as a foreign policy goal.