I don't think Bosnia is ready for reconciliation, but I do think it is ready for truth. - Paddy Ashdown

There can be no place in a 21st-century parliament for people with 15th-century titles upholding 19th-century prejudices.

Bosnia is under my skin. It's the place you cannot leave behind. I was obsessed by the nightmare of it all; there was this sense of guilt, and an anger that has become something much deeper over these last years.

History teaches us these lessons for the interveners: leave your prejudices at home, keep your ambitions low, have enough resources to do the job, do not lose the golden hour, make security your first priority, involve the neighbours.