Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), like many of its neighbors in the Western Balkans, is beset by endemic, seemingly unsolvable corruption. Understandably, many Bosnian citizens would like to see the prosecution and conviction of high-level officials engaged in corrupt practices. Local activists and the international community have pressed for improvements to BiH’s judicial sector and law enforcement capacities, at least in part to make such high-level prosecutions more likely, and more likely to succeed. Yet while convictions of corrupt senior officials should indeed be one important goal, in the short term it will be very difficult to achieve, for the simple and familiar reason that political leaders will vigorously resist any changes that could put themselves at risk of criminal prosecution. Ending the culture of elite impunity in BiH, while necessary, will remain a long-term project.

That doesn’t mean, though, that there’s nothing that can be done about corruption in BiH in the short-to-medium term. Indeed, there are a number of measures, besides direct criminal prosecutions, that could reduce corruption in ways that are more indirect, and therefore less threatening to those currently in power. That feature, coupled with the fact that many of these reforms would also produce substantial economic benefits even independent of their corruption-reducing effect, makes these kinds of reforms more politically feasible. Reforms in the two following economic areas are examples of how BiH could cut opportunities for corruption and make everyday life better for Bosnians, and do so in a way that might be acceptable or even attractive to incumbent politicians. Continue reading →