This video is filled with disturbing short clips and still photography from the Bosnian conflict which happened just over 10 years ago. This short documentary focuses specifically on the city of Sarajevo, which sits helplessly surrounded by mountains. (The song is titled “One of These Mornings” by Moby)
This summer I had the privilege to take a trip into Bosnia to learn more about the war and also see the cities of Mostar and Sarajevo first hand. I took the journey with travel mates Wes Fleming, a recent film grad from Hawaii, and Jack Taylor, a doctoral student at Michigan State.
The three of us were able to see the conflict from both sides of the former battlefield. First, by witnessing underground tunnels built to smuggle in supplies to Sarajevo while it was under relentless attack . Second, by walking around Serbian machine gun and mortar nests in the hills that surrounded the city, and finally, we talked with our gracious Bosnian host named Ahmed, who was involved in the conflict.
He welcomed us with open arms and a few cold Bosnian beers to counter the scorching mid day temperatures. Amhed talked about ethnic and religious differences which caused the original divisions. It is hard to understand every variable in a situation such as this but seeing things first hand gives you a hunger to find out more stories to help educate others about what happened.
While the politics of this war and former breakup of Yugoslavia is somewhat complicated, it is a war that many in the West know little about. I hope you will take a look at this clip and become intrigued to begin to research some introductory background information on this topic. Please pass along any interesting related info.
K. Wahlgren 
The entire conflict is rarely talked about in America. I barely knew anything about it until you nominated me for the LeadAmerica program. The “case study”, or whatever we happened to call it, that my group had was Kosovo. We spent some time looking at Yugoslavia as a whole and the Global Leadership Summit head boss guy had been a UN peacekeeper there when the program first started in the early 90’s. He ended up marrying a Serbian and we learned a lot by asking her about it.
Not directly related to Bosnia, but you get the idea.
This gives a little background on why police officers and an ambulance would park at the field whenever my games with the Cleveland Croatian soccer team were against the Serbians
Tim, impressive primary source to talk about the conflict, solid learning experience
Josh, there is nothing like soccer building on divisions. Case in point Glasgow Rangers (Protestant) Glasgow Celtic (Catholic). American pro sports need to adopt religions to gain more passionate followings
And then there’s divisions in places like Spain. Real Madrid (Spain) v. Barcelona (Catalonia) is much more than a soccer game.
A week in Sarajevo three years ago changed my life in a profound way. It marked the beginning of an inner journey through the battle worn corners of my own life to personal freedom. That war-ravaged city will always have a special place in my heart. … Thanks for sharing …
I too fell in love with Sarajevo during our stay. It had seen such destruction but seemed full of hope. I was lucky enough to work with a Bosnian who had lived in Sarajevo and played his part defending the city during the war. There is nothing like having a first hand account to help gain a real insight. He also suggested a couple of great books to further my ‘education’.