This paper aims to illuminate how the rule of law is understood in international peace-building activities by looking at the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The case is selected since the European countries and the United States that are leading peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a distinct tendency to emphasize the rule of law in the context of peace-building. While there are more various international rganizations that are given peace-building tasks by the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995, the paper focuses on the Office of High Representative, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN's and EU's police missions, as they have leading roles in rule-of-law related activities. The paper finds that the rule of law is now recognized more important than before. The paper argues that it is because democracy has lost importance as a peace-building strategy. In Bosnia and Herzegovina where ethnicity-based forces have kept power through the post-conflict elections, democracy does not appear to be an effective tool for peace-building. The rule of law is understood as a strategy to develop the remedies which democracy may fail to create and is expected to pave the way for more solid peace
