Lumbosciatica of the Plasticine Political Thought of Sarajevo: For the Sake of the State of Bosnia, We Must Get Rid of the Plasticine Intellect!

Written by: Rasim Belko @rasimbelko

Yesterday I read that Christian Schmidt announces two decisions. The first concerns the introduction of modern technologies into the electoral process — to make it, presumably, easier and more precise for us to count our defeats. The second is about the method of financing seven cultural institutions of significance to the state — because, even regarding our own culture, we cannot agree among ourselves, so an international official must decide who gets what and how much.

The worst part is that in this new amendment campaign against our lives and reality, Schmidt does not even appear as the worst manifestation. He is a consequence, and the cause is the lumbosciatic soft-spined mass of the Sarajevo basin, never ready or able to straighten up, continuously on a path of grateful or cowardly bending.

This time, the biggest problem is not even the international community, which, like an old colonial administrator, exploits the gaps in our system, our political will, and our intellectual integrity. The problem, therefore, is the plasticine mentality of local political thought, especially that of the Sarajevo basin, which likes to adorn itself with anti-fascism, secularism, and state-building — but only as long as it does not require real responsibility, activity, and risk from them.

Because here we are now, where the very same intellectuals, analysts, and salon experts have summoned Schmidt to intervene, to take over the state's competencies, to decide what they did not dare, did not want, or did not know how to propose and insist upon with their political patrons. That is the chronic lumbosciatica of the political mind. A pain in the political spine that appears every time a clear stance must be taken, responsibility for consequences assumed, and one's own political realities faced. It is easier to bend, to rely on a foreign decision, and then tomorrow boast about how it "went well" or lament that it "could have been worse."

As if they have forgotten October 2022, when Schmidt, on election night, while polling committees were still counting votes, changed the election rules in favor of HDZ BiH. They also forgot April 2023, when Schmidt, with his amendments to the Constitution of the Federation of BiH, cemented the political influence of the minority over the majority, derogating the basic principles of political will. Then, the very same people who now summon Schmidt — were silent, mumbled, relativized.
That is the pattern. When Schmidt decides in their favor — they summon him. When he does not suit them — they are silent or cry a little, but wait for it to pass. Without a concept, without a long-term strategy, without historical awareness. Without a spine.

And that is why we must ask ourselves: has the time come to get rid of that plasticine mind? Those temporary citizens of their own country, who function only from one Schmidt decision to the next? Who will tomorrow, if necessary, repeatedly summon the High Representative, then the OHR, then some diplomatic mediation from Brussels, Washington, or Istanbul. Anything, just so they do not have to grapple with their own reality.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with an excess of history and a deficit of political memory.

Each generation makes the same mistakes anew, as if the previous ones never existed. Everything invested in creating political thought is in vain, for which neither world literature, the circumstances of aggression, nor the realpolitik framework of today are sufficient for them to understand that states are not made by decrees of international officials, nor can cultural institutions be protected by someone else's will.

Or they can be made that way, but it may be tactically useful, yet strategically disastrous. Because, he who can save you — can also destroy you.

And how to escape that illusion? Not by declaiming grand slogans, not by romantic nostalgia, not by summoning non-existent consensuses. It is necessary to develop political thought based on a realistic assessment of interests, power, relations, and possibilities. This is not a call to cynicism, but to responsibility. To seriousness!
One must ask: what can we truly do on our own, where are the points of resistance, where is the space and time for offense, and where for defense. Which institutions and which narratives can we build from within, and which games must we play within frameworks we do not determine ourselves.

That is not weakness. That is political maturity. Because a nation or civic collective that lacks its own concept of survival and development will end up as a client of someone else's politics. Thus, a servant of someone else's interests, as long as those interests exist, or as a historical footnote in the record of peoples who served foreign interests and then disappeared.

And the Sarajevo plasticine intellect, for now, refuses to acknowledge this. It is easier to play the moral authority on social media and summon Schmidt to "resolve the matter." And so on until some new election night, when instead of culture and technology, the core of political will is once again intervened upon.

Therefore, if there is no spine, perhaps it would be wise to at least develop an awareness of one's own deformation. Perhaps from that insight, a generation will one day emerge that will not feel the need to bow to governors, but will itself define the space of the possible.

Until that happens — we are left with lumbosciatica. And plasticine, unfortunately, cannot be cured — it only melts under pressure.