Introduction

Abstract

In 1954, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a widely quoted remark that it is ‘better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.’¹ While this is usually interpreted as a metaphorical declaration that negotiations are preferable to war, it does highlight the point that peacemaking is a matter of talking and therefore of language. However, the importance of language in peacemaking is rarely examined in detail. It has been particularly neglected where, as is most often the case, different languages are in play between the protagonists.² The authors were participants in a research programme, Languages at War, which set out to rectify this neglect by examining the policies and practices relating to languages in situations of conflict.³ This book presents our findings on the complex issues of language confronting the international forces that sought to bring peace to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s. It examines how the issues were approached by the military and the key role of people from the area in helping to resolve them.