How diverse are the nature of regimes and societies in various parts of Europe? Has the pandemic allowed local regimes to strengthen their power and exert greater control over societies in Europe?
The pandemic and near-universal lockdown have provided an ideal cut-off date for the collection of indices from reputable academic sources that cover the nature of regimes, individual human freedoms, economic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights and media freedoms. Focusing specifically on Western Balkans, the pandemic has given opportunities for researchers to address the question of whether the future of the region lies in the “liberal club”, or whether local hybrid regimes will become even more influential in the near future, by investigating Western Balkan regimes’ reactions to the pandemic in the context of governance, society and state power.
In this public lecture, Neven Andjelic presented the findings in his latest publication Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe: Focus on Western Balkans and engaged in a discussion with Jasna Dragović-Soso and James Gow, moderated by Denisa Kostovicova.
Meet our speakers and chair
Neven Andjelic is Assistant Professor in International Relations and Human Rights at the Regent’s University London. He is also Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna. Besides his academic activities, Neven remains as an activist for human rights issues in his country of origin, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He also had a career in journalism, having worked for CNN, BBC, ITN, Channel 4 in the UK and all the leading media in Bosnia-Herzegovina. His latest book, Covid-19, State-Power and Society in Europe: Focus on Western Balkans has been published in 2022 by Springer.
Jasna Dragović-Soso is Professor of International Politics and History at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is also Visiting Professor at LSEE. Professor Dragović-Soso has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters on intellectuals and dissent; nationalism, state dissolution and international intervention; and on processes of memory construction and transitional justice in the post-Yugoslav region. She has provided expertise on the post-Yugoslav region to various non-academic stakeholders, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the International Commission on the Balkans.
James Gow is Professor of International Peace and Security and Co-Director of the War Crimes Research Group at King’s College London. He has served as an expert adviser and an expert witness for the Office of the Prosecutor at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he was the first ever witness at an international criminal tribunal, and as an Expert Adviser to the UK Secretary of State for Defence.
Denisa Kostovicova is Associate Professor in Global Politics at the European Institute, LSE.
More about this event
LSEE (@LSEE_LSE ) was officially launched at the start of the 2009-10 academic year as a research unit established within LSE's European Institute. Over the last several years LSEE has developed the School's expertise on South East Europe, drawing on the strength of existing and new academic expertise at the LSE.
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