This book is a legal analysis of the Dayton Peace Agreement and its inherent contradictions between human rights and an ethnically based political system. As a member of the EU delegation in Dayton, the author explains some of the backgrounds for the peace agreement and she points to its potential for political reform.

Gro Nystuen has been with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1991. She was seconded to work as Legal Advisor at the International Conference for the Former Yugoslavia and at the Office of the High Representative during the years 1995-1997, and participated in the EU-delegation in the Dayton negotiations. As of 2005, she holds the position of Professor of International Humanitarian Law at the University of Oslo.