Sarajevo is a beautiful wonderful thought provoking city. Bit of a pain in the backside to get to currently but well worth the trouble. Would go back in a heart beat.
Bosnia on the whole is an amazing country tucked away in the middle of Europe that deserves to be rated far more as a holiday destination. I rate it as one of my favourite in the world. Its more than just somewhere that a war happened and a world war started.
I sadly hear that there is rising tensions there currently due to the high unemployment rate which is a direct result of the way government institutions have ground to a halt because of ongoing issues between ethnic groups. I find it sad and worrying that its in danger of sinking back into trouble unless a way can be found to resolve the issues.
But the war aspect of it, means, I find the fact that people are so completely ignorant to it, very depressing.
I've also visited Serbia, and I have to say that it blew my preconceptions of the country out of the water. I viewed it as 'the big bad wolf' and really only travelled through it, in order to get to Sarajevo.
Instead, I encountered some of the most friendly people I have ever met anywhere in the world. It made me realise the difference between the average person and leaders more than anywhere else I've ever been. Some of it was depressing and hard to take in. When faced with places that our country bombed in my lifetime and the human face of that it makes you question things and realise just how much, even within our relative freedom, we are subjects of propaganda.
It was challenging and a privilege to visit both. Its also interesting to know how much, or indeed how little in some cases, both countries have moved on since the war.
I wished that people were aware of the wars that go on around them, but also took the time to look beyond that and how it effects us now. And to be interested in other countries other than their own. I hate the mentality of many Brits abroad for this reason. (You shouldn't have to have a war go on to make an effort to know something about a country.)
The most interesting thing I found about both Serbia and Bosnia, wasn't really the war though. Its just how much the EU has helped subsequently and how much it is respected. Both are working towards closer ties, and potentially membership which will hopefully help with future stability in the region. The Ukraine crisis has similar echos. Yet, in this country, we take the EU so much for granted and often so many people disregard how important it is.
Like other people have said, all things and countries are interconnected and don't exist in isolation.