Bulgarian Habibi: How Orientalist Stereotypes in Chalga Music Recover Memories of the Balkans’ Ottoman Past
The tension inherent to chalga and turbofolk music – is it local or foreign? – hints at the deeper paradox beneath contemporary Balkan nationalism and its ambiguous relationship to the Ottoman past.…
How Serbia Saves Its Children With Text Messages
Serbia’s broken health care system means that sick children must often rely on the charity of strangers to send text message donations to finance expensive treatments abroad. Fearing exposure of its own…
No Order Without Justice: Kosovo Needs a Social Revolution
When we hear the word revolution, we typically think of dictatorships, violence, and chaos. However, social revolutions can also be non-violent; their best army and arms are the people and voices that…
World Cup 2018: When Nationalist Politics and Sports Collide
Damir Kulas on the dangers of mixing nationalism and football In 2015, the satirical Montenegrin musician Rambo Amadeus claimed nationalism was the main topic of conversation for those in the Balkans…
A Lost “Third Way”: The Radicalism of Yugoslav Art Before the War
The 1989 Jugoslovanski dokumenti exhibition sought to put Sarajevo on the map by curating a bold exhibit on contemporary Yugoslav art. Ambitious yet also grassroots, it was meant to embody what Croatian…
Slovenia’s Election to Push Politics Further Right
Regardless of official outcome, today’s election in Slovenia promises more of the same, as the country’s political scene continues its shift to the right — mirroring a pattern seen elsewhere in the EU…
The ‘Balkan Route’ is No Such Thing
I met an 18-year-old last week, who had walked from Bangladesh to Belgrade. The circles under his eyes formed hypnotic spirals. His gaze had all the qualities of an icepick. It made…
The Last Battle of the Cold War: Democratic Transition in Contemporary Albania
A Review of Fred Abrahams Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe In the last few decades, the U.S. has arguably possessed no stronger ally in the Balkans than Albania.…
Happy International Anti-Corruption Day to the Stabilitocrats in Bulgaria and Brussels
It’s International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9: a good day to raise a glass and remember the most corrupt country in the European Union is taking over the rotating Presidency of the…
Coordinated Facebook Attacks on Critical Media, Antifa in Croatia
By Ana Benacic and Una Hajdari The verdict issued on Wednesday of last week at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia against a group of Bosnian Croats for crimes committed…