Southeast Europe
Rediscovering the Umma
May 10, 2013
Ina Merdjanova, former Southeast Europe policy scholar, releases her latest monograph Rediscovering the Umma. "Ina Merdjanova discusses the conditions and role of Islam in relation to post-Ottoman nation-building, the communist period, and post-communist developments in the Balkans, focusing in particular on the remarkable transformations experienced by Muslim communities after the end of the Cold War. Amidst multiple structural and cultural transitions, they sought to renegotiate their place and reclaim their Islamic identities in formally secular legal and normative environments, mostly as minorities in majority-Christian societies." (Oxford University Press) more
Serbia's Challenges on Its Path to EU Accession
May 29, 2013 // 1:00pm — 2:00pm
Assistant Foreign Minister of Serbia Ljubica Vasic will discuss the challenges and opportunities that the Republic of Serbia faces on its path to European integration. Vasic will address key reforms that the country has introduced so far to advance its EU accession bid, and will explain why the European integration process is important for the overall development of the country. She will outline the steps that Serbia has taken to achieve one of its main foreign policy goals – EU membership. more
Russia's Energy Bully Takes a Fall
May 07, 2013
"After years as Eurasia's energy bully, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, is getting a taste of its own medicine," stated Alexandros Petersen in a recent article published by Foreign Policy earlier this week. more
Rediscovering the Umma
May 10, 2013Ina Merdjanova, former Southeast Europe policy scholar, releases her latest monograph Rediscovering the Umma. "Ina Merdjanova discusses the conditions and role of Islam in relation to post-Ottoman nation-building, the communist period, and post-communist developments in the Balkans, focusing in particular on the remarkable transformations experienced by Muslim communities after the end of the Cold War. Amidst multiple structural and cultural transitions, they sought to renegotiate their place and reclaim their Islamic identities in formally secular legal and normative environments, mostly as minorities in majority-Christian societies." (Oxford University Press)
Russia's Energy Bully Takes a Fall
May 07, 2013"After years as Eurasia's energy bully, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, is getting a taste of its own medicine," stated Alexandros Petersen in a recent article published by Foreign Policy earlier this week.
East European Studies Short-term Research Scholarships
May 02, 2013The Wilson Center's European Studies Program is now accepting applications for the EES Short-term Grant competition, which is open to academic experts and practitioners, including advanced graduate students, engaged in specialized research requiring access to Washington, DC and its research institutions. Grants are for one month and include residence at the Wilson Center. Candidates must be U.S. citizens, in order to be considered eligible for this grant opportunity. The deadline for this grant cycle is: June 1, 2013.
European Energy Security is Not Up to Europe
Mar 20, 2013In an article discussing ways to avoid Europe's energy dependency on Russia, Alexandros Petersen, advisor to the European Energy Security Initiative, argues that EU countries should "...bring non-Russian gas to European markets along a route that does not traverse territory over which Russia has influence."
Serbia's Challenges on Its Path to EU Accession
May 29, 2013 // 1:00pm — 2:00pm
Assistant Foreign Minister of Serbia Ljubica Vasic will discuss the challenges and opportunities that the Republic of Serbia faces on its path to European integration. Vasic will address key reforms that the country has introduced so far to advance its EU accession bid, and will explain why the European integration process is important for the overall development of the country. She will outline the steps that Serbia has taken to achieve one of its main foreign policy goals – EU membership.
The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees and Minorities
May 07, 2013 // 3:00pm — 4:30pm
What drives a state's choice to assimilate, accommodate, or exclude ethnic groups within its territory? In this pathbreaking work on the international politics of nation-building, Harris Mylonas argues that a state's nation-building policies toward non-core groups - any aggregation of individuals perceived as an unassimilated ethnic group by the ruling elite of a state - are influenced by both its foreign policy goals and its relations with the external patrons of these groups.
Beyond Nabucco: An Update on the Southern Gas Corridor and European Energy Security
April 30, 2013 // 10:00am — 12:00pm
The race to build the Southern Energy Corridor to bring Caspian natural gas to Europe is in its final stages. The Shah Deniz consortium in Azerbaijan is set to once and for all decide the long-pending "Nabucco question". How will this improve European energy security? Experts from Baku's Center for Strategic Studies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan gather to discuss this, as well as other pertinent questions at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Global Europe Program and the Kennan Institute.
Alexandros Petersen
Dr. Alexandros Petersen serves as Advisor to the European Energy Security Initiative (EESI) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. A scholar of energy geopolitics, he has a decade's experience conducting research across Europe and Eurasia. Dr. Petersen is the author...