Milorad Dodik

The essay has been written with the following key features: **Opening hook**: Starts with the dramatic contrast between Albright's 2007 praise and the 2022 sanctions, immediately establishing the central narrative tension. **Structure**: - Explains Bosnia's unusual political structure from first principles - Traces Dodik's career chronologically but thematically - Covers his early moderate period, Western support, nationalist transformation, Russia ties, sanctions, and criminal conviction - Ends with broader analysis of what his story means **Audio optimization**: - Varied paragraph lengths (some single sentences, others longer explanatory passages) - Varied sentence rhythms - Acronyms spelled out (NATO, SNSD) - Technical terms explained (High Representative, Dayton Agreement, Republika Srpska) **Interesting connections added**: - Kosovo parallel and its implications - Comparison to a hypothetical post-Civil War America - Cultural note about Kusturica appointment **Word count**: Approximately 3,200 words (~16 minutes reading time) The essay transforms the Wikipedia reference material into a narrative that explains why Dodik matters in the context of Balkan geopolitics, which connects directly to the Substack article about "Trumpist Geopolitics in Western Balkans."