Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace encourages participation from individuals all over the world, particularly in locations closest to the conflict and its unfolding resolution. Live Internet connections through 15 publicly accessible terminals at Sarajevo University have been set up by the Soros Foundation so Bosnians themselves can take part. Terminals linked to the Web site have been installed by IBM at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, and at the United Nations in New York. Global discussions are being initiated on the political, social and cultural issues raised by the war.

Peress' images are a personal and journalistic chronicle of the final weeks of the siege of Sarajevo, including the exodus of the Serbs from the city's suburbs. The interactive photo essay, combined with the photographer's narrative, provides the viewer with information and experiences similar to those encountered by journalists witnessing the end of the war.

Peress is known for his photographic coverage of conflicts in Iran, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, and Bosnia. Viewers are encouraged to submit comments and reactions. Individuals in the former Yugoslavia are being invited to email their own accounts of events.

More than ten Internet forums are being conducted by leading intellectual and political figures specializing in different aspects of the Bosnia conflict, including the war and its destruction, preceding historical events, the religious dimension, and political ramifications. Bernard Gwertzman, senior editor, is overseeing the forums. Hosts and participants include:

• Madeleine Albright, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• Ervin Staub, professor of psychology studying genocide at the University of Massachusetts
• Steve Walker, formerly of the U.S. State Department
• Manuela Dobos, professor of Balkanology at the City University of NY
• Aryeh Neier, president of the Soros Foundation & the Open Society Institute
• Christiane Amanpour, senior international correspondent for CNN

Users can also access multimedia background materials, color maps, audio clips, archival articles from New York Times correspondents, and links to relevant sites on the Web. Highlights of discussions and forum contributions will be posted regularly on the site. The site itself will remain accessible until August.

So much of the imagery that comes at us from television leaves us unable to respond. This project, using a two-way medium, allows us to both feel the power of Peress' images, but also to respond, to join a worldwide community of others who can no longer be silent about what they see and hear through the media.

We invite you to visit this new and important Web site early and often. It can be reached either from The New York Times on the Web's home page, or by pointing your browser to http://www.nytimes.com/bosnia.