Cataclysm within the Court: The Bosnian Genocide Case and its Implications on Historical Understanding of Calamity

Authors

Alexandria Currier, Kennesaw State UniversityFollow

Name of Faculty Sponsor

Ryan Ronnenberg

Faculty Sponsor Email

pryan4@kennesaw.edu

Author Bio(s)

Alexandria Currier is a current undergraduate history student at Kennesaw State University. She specializes in research relating to late 20th and early 21st Century United States foreign policy, international law, and general recent political history. She has also authored work within the Saber and Scroll Journal, as well as presented work in conferences such as NCUR and SHUR.

Publication Date

3-2026

Use of AI Disclaimer

no

Abstract

The Bosnian Genocide remains one of the most challenging cases within the history of modern conflict and calamity. As the first occurrence in which the International Court of Justice applied the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to a state, the International Court of Justice's legal proceedings on the Bosnian Genocide set a new standard for the obligations of the international community to act in the occurrence of genocide. This research aims to clarify the nature of the 1992-1995 conflict between the nations of Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina using primary source documentation, modern commentary, and the codification of genocide prevention under the United Nations arbitration between Bosnia and Serbia. It also serves to identify how the understanding of the Bosnian Genocide has changed over time within both the legal discipline and the historicization of violence as a whole.