When he lost to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 elections, Jimmy Carter was only 56 years old. He was too young to retire from politics and with a purpose in life, he soon planned to make the most of his later years. He dedicated himself to establishing The Carter Center and pursuing a number of causes including conflict resolution. Carter's post-presidential life earned him honors and the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, he is considered an exemplary former president. In doing so, he made himself and the president.
In order to end the conflict, Carter chose to make peace in secret and, in doing so, removed the traditions expected of previous leaders. His private conversations also included meeting and talking to unsavory people deemed unfit for the former president. Only in 1994, Carter went to meet and discuss with Kim Il Sung of North Korea and Raoul Cedras of Haiti. Discussions with international pariahs led to criticism of Carter for giving them face value and even legitimacy. Perhaps the most difficult part of his peace process since then was his 1994 meeting with Bosnian Serb rebel leader Radovan Karadzic and his warlord Ratko Mladic.
Just before Christmas 1994, Carter traveled more than 5,000 miles from the United States to the Bosnian Serb stronghold of Pale outside Sarajevo. He was welcomed by those in the rebel leadership. The purpose of his visit was to end the war between the rebels and the Bosnian government this winter. His meetings with Karadzic and Mladic raised eyebrows and were widely criticized. The 39th president of the United States met in 1994 with people who the United States Department of State labeled as war criminals back in 1992. So what did Carter want to do and why?
By the time of Carter's visit, Bosnia had been at war for two and a half years and a large part of the country had been conquered by the Bosnian army. The world-renowned Bosnian government, having survived the initial violence, was largely resistant and launched a series of terrorist attacks to recapture the occupied territories. The main principles of the international peace process known as the Contact Group plan released in the summer of 1994 were accepted by the Bosnian government and rejected by the Bosnian Serbs. The winter of that year was a rest period before the major military operations of the Bosnian government were expected in the spring of the following year. Because of this, Carter went to Bosnia in December 1994 to end the war.
Carter was approached by representatives of the Bosnian Serb side who visited the former president in Plains, Georgia with a request for his participation. The Clinton administration was ambivalent about Carter's visit and distanced himself from it without public opposition. The Bosnian government was worried that this was Karadzic's public relations ploy to get the former American president to visit him, but they could not stop it.
When he arrived in Sarajevo, Carter saw for himself the besieged Bosnian capital that he remembered in his memoirs. Bosnian officials, convinced that Carter had been tricked into going on the trip, gave a warm welcome. In contrast, in Pale the next day was exciting. No high-ranking person in politics and world-renowned has graced the town with a visit. The talks resulted in a four-month ceasefire.
All the actors went together and stopped the war but for different reasons. The Pale Serbs became the main beneficiaries of Carter's secret negotiations. More important than the long stoppage was the opportunity to find the former POTUS in their stronghold and explain to him the Serb grievances. Carter's presence at the Pale was a huge public coup. The success of the relationship led Karadzic to exaggerate his expectations of Carter's future involvement. In fact, Karadzic also tried to take Carter to Bosnia in 1995 but to no avail.
The Bosnian government was not happy with Carter's visit but did not want to interfere with his work. In any case, in order to benefit from the situation at the time, Sarajevo ordered that the cease-fire be extended to the whole country and thereby free the besieged area of the northwest of Bihac from further attacks.
Instead of peace, Carter's suspension was a reprieve from war. The winter break was the beginning of a major coup d'état launched by Bosnian and Croatian forces in the summer of 1995 that helped end the war. It was in November 1995 that the negotiations led to the Dayton Peace Accords.
Despite Carter's lack of knowledge of the Bosnian war, his willingness to deal with peace – a quality rarely seen in a former president – quelled any concerns that the hands of peace might have had. What he did in Bosnia is another example of his actions after the presidency.
However, one was marred by controversy.
The image that captured the most controversy throughout the Carter visit was the image of the former president and the Bosnian Serb leader. Filming the two announcing a ceasefire in December 1994 in Pale was difficult. The former American president who emphasized human rights in office and beyond was almost a “planner of the Bosnian genocide” – to borrow the description of Radovan Karadzic from the American expert on Bosnia, Robert J Donia.
Today, after his 100-year-old death on December 29, the world remembers former President Carter as a statesman and civil rights activist who remained committed to peace.
But his visit to the Pale, and his meeting with Karadzic, immortalized in a photo taken nearly 30 years ago, remains a major blot on his long and fruitful post-presidential career.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect Al Jazeera's influence.