Reproduction of Peripherality during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article situates itself in the theoretical space between world-systems theory and postcolonial theory, exploring how the state of peripherality and concomitant dependency is reproduced in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Covid-19 pandemic. The dependent position of the Bosnian protectorate in the world-system, its heritage of colonial rule and peripherality, as well as post-colonial influences of Pax-Americana on state constitution and state capture, have all contributed to the inability of the divided state to adequately respond to the pandemic. This article reveals a multifaceted dependence of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Western core economies in relation to aid, equipment and vaccines as well as its gradual move towards China as a new opportunity. The pandemic also becomes the stage for competition between the Eastern and Western companies for mining concessions needed to secure the green transition in the respective economies, as a new wave of primitive accumulation ravages the European periphery. As a result of this new scramble for the Balkans, and amidst the global shift towards multipolarity, we see a stable reproduction of peripherality in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Western Balkans, and re-emergence of ethnic conflict in previously disputed areas, where ethnic groups identify with the interests of their respective hegemons.