This presentation challenges the conventional view of the Balkans as a region historically defined by excessive nationalism and persistent warfare. Instead, it argues that the region’s trajectory has been shaped more by the relative absence of sustained inter-state conflict and fully developed nationalist ideologies. By critically engaging with influential theories of state formation and nationalism, the presentation situates Southeast Europe within a broader comparative European framework. Focusing on the divergence between Western and Southeast Europe from the early modern period onward, it contends that protracted warfare in the West acted as a key driver of administrative centralisation, fiscal capacity, and institutional development. In contrast, the relative scarcity of such conflicts in the Balkans contributed to fragmented political authority and weaker state structures. At the same time, the delayed emergence of mass, institutionalised nationalisms limited the formation of cohesive national identities and slowed the spread of modern political mobilisation. The presentation ultimately argues that, contrary to dominant assumptions, it was the weakness rather than the excess of organised violence and nationalism that hindered social and political development in the Balkan region. It concludes that while war can facilitate state formation, it does not necessarily generate strong or unified nations.
Sinisa Malesevic is a UCD Professor of Comparative Historical Sociology at the University College, Dublin, and a Senior Fellow at CNAM, Paris. He is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy and Academia Europaea. His recent books include Nationalism as a Way of Life: The Rise and Transformation of Modern Subjectivities (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Why Humans Fight: The Social Dynamics of Close-Range Violence (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Grounded Nationalisms: A Sociological Analysis (Cambridge University Press, 2019), and The Rise of Organised Brutality: A Historical Sociology of Violence (Cambridge University Press, 2017) He is a recipient of several international book awards. Prof. Malesevic has also authored over 140 journal articles and book chapters, as well as 9 edited volumes. His work has been translated into 14 languages.