“I Apologize, But Your Crime Is Worse Than Mine”: Relative De-Stigmatization in Serbian–Croatian Relations

During the first decade of the 21st century, Serbia and Croatia engaged in a puzzling practice of parallel mutual apologizing and accusing. To understand this dynamic, it is crucial to consider that Serbia and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Croatia were engaged in stigma-management activities in their mutual relations. The central argument of this paper is that Serbia and Croatia balanced apologies with accusations due to the perception that accepting the responsibility could be a “double-edged sword”, considering that their stigmas originate from the same conflict. While accepting responsibility could send a positive signal to the “audience of normals” and contribute to de-stigmatization, it might also be an opportunity for the counterpart (a former adversary) to shift much (or all) the blame for the conflict’s wrongdoing on the apologizing actor. Building on recognition theories in International Relations, this paper develops a theoretical argument that states care not only about their absolute position in the international hierarchy and, thus, absolute recognition, but also about their relative recognition compared to their former adversaries. Considering that stigma lowers the position of an actor in the international hierarchy, states strive not only to achieve absolute de-stigmatization, but also to become relatively less stigmatized than former adversaries with whom they share stigma. The paper introduces the concept of relative de-stigmatization and explains how attempts to achieve it influenced Serbian and Croatian behavior in mutual relations.