The recent backlash of the peacebuilding operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been explained by the local elites’ political immaturity, communist background and electoral strategies. This article argues that it can be explained by the erosion of the informal agreement between local parties and interveners. In return for the local elites’ cooperation, the external authorities used to contain radical factions, and had installed a “benevolent autocracy” that spared the elected officials from assuming the political costs of taking decisions. The international wavering on the exit strategy put an end to this understanding, which led to the reorganisation of local political strategies.