Karadžić fell from power gradually, in stages, unlike many populist leaders who cling to power until death or ouster by angry mobs. In August 1995 he lost his authority to negotiate; in July 1996 he resigned his offices under pressure; in 2000 he was driven from public view; and in 2008 he lost his personal freedom upon his arrest in Belgrade. Karadžić ascribed his fall to a series of betrayals by Western diplomats, but he had also alienated some of his closest supporters and turned once-staunch allies into enemies. The primary source of his undoing was Karadžić himself. The rational Karadžić, a man of immense intellectual resourcefulness and versatility who charmed and bullied his way to power, was pushed aside by his angry, arrogant doppelgänger. Belligerent, tactless, and vain, Karadžić incited former allies and supporters to unite against him, weaken his authority, and force him from office. This chapter describes his protracted descent from power and high office.

The Road to Hell is Paved

In a long-delayed move, the ICTY prosecutor indicted Karadžić and Mladić on July 24, 1995, for dozens of wartime mass atrocities. The sixteen-count indictment charged them with genocide, unlawful confinement of civilians, shelling of civilian gatherings, destruction of sacred sites, appropriation and plunder of property, using hostages as human shields, and other grave crimes. Although it was filed one week after the killings at Srebrenica, the indictment did not mention those events. Not until November 1995 did the ICTY prosecutors amend their indictment to include charges of genocide at Srebrenica. Even so, the initial indictment transformed Karadžić and Mladić into international pariahs and fugitives from the law. Their lives and fortunes changed forever. But at first, each took the indictment in stride, believing there was no realistic prospect of being arrested while remaining in office.