https://iwpr.net/global-voices/bosnia-lesson-we-learned-afghanistan
This article highlights similarities between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Serb separatist in Bosnia. The article cites a failure from western powers to do anything to quell this separatist as a main point of contention. Another reason highlighted is the actions of Milorad Dodik. Dodik has made large steps recently to achieve his goal of separation. Some of these issues stem from Inzko who in his last few days as High Representative banned the denial of genocide and glorification of war criminals. This caused an uproar from the Serbs who many of their political leaders were on trial for war crimes and genocide. US representative Gabriel Escobar has called a meeting between both factions to settle the conflict.
This article is important because it shows the fallout of what happened in Afghanistan. Due to the nature of Bosnia and how complicated its relationship with the three main factions that make up its population, I believe that it would be difficult for Dodik to actually be successful in his separationist goals. This is due to the fact that the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats rarely find common ground on less pressing issues much fewer ones of seceding factions. I do believe however that as the article highlights Russia is having a greater influence in Bosnia through Dodik. This is due in large part to the fact that Bosnia has neither a member of the EU nor NATO. Thus it would make sense for Russia to intervene where necessary to keep it that way.
This article reinforces the theory that the Balkans will likely be the next shelterbelt or as it was dubbed in class the iron curtain. Should the Serbs succeed in their succeeding then it will undoubtedly cause chaos in the region as powers such as Serbia and Croatia as well as Bosnia compete for dominance in that region. This could create a similar situation like the one we see in the middle east as is mentioned in the article and would interrupt Bosnias induction into NATO and the EU which is exactly what Russia wants.