Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program began monitoring developments in the former Yugoslavia in February 1993. In December of the following year, President Carter and Mrs. Carter undertook a high-profile diplomatic mission to the region with Center staff. 

During that trip, and in the time that followed, the Center, led by President Carter:

• Held talks with the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, as well as other interested parties
• Brokered a four-month ceasefire and a pledge to resume peace talks
• Kept lines of communication open when violence resumed after the ceasefire expired
• Encouraged U.S. involvement in negotiations

In his determination to bring peace to the region, President Carter appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee in June 1995, making him the first former president since Harry Truman to testify on Capitol Hill. 

Months later in November, the U.S. government hosted talks in Dayton, Ohio, that successfully ended 43 months of fighting.