Montenegro and the Balkans in Times of Turbulence

In conversation with FPI Senior Fellow Edward P. Joseph.

With turbulence mounting in Serbia, Professors Vesko Garčević and Kenneth Morrison will speak about the divergent paths that Montenegro and Serbia have taken since they split up in 2006. In addition to current dynamics, the Professors will discuss implications from US-led diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, Russian and Chinese influence in the region, the role of the US, EU and NATO, as well as the role of the Orthodox Church. Join us for an illuminating conversation on an unsettled region!

Professor , Director of the Center for the Study of Europe at Boston University, served as the Ambassador of Montenegro in Brussels (NATO) and Vienna (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – OSCE and other International Organizations). He was a Montenegrin Ambassador to Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. During his diplomatic career he held important positions at the challenging political time of the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and democratic transition of Montenegro. After Montenegro regained independence in 2006, he served as the first Montenegrin Ambassador to Austria and the OSCE. He has outstanding knowledge of multilateral issues, especially in the field of European Security.

Professor is Professor of History (Chair in Modern Southeast European History), Research and Innovation Director (Global Challenges and Cultures) and UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Fellow at De Montfort University, Leicester. He was a Research Associate and Visiting Professor at the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). An established specialist on the Western Balkans, he is the author of several books focusing on the modern history of the region, including Nationalism, Identity and Statehood in Post-Yugoslav Montenegro (2018), Sarajevo’s Holiday Inn: On the Frontline of Politics and War (2016) and Montenegro: A Modern History (2009). He is the co-author of Reporting the Siege of Sarajevo (2021) and The Sandžak: A History (2013). Kenneth has also written extensively for media internationally and in the Western Balkans, and for numerous think-tanks in the region. His latest book, a study of Montenegrin-Serbian relations since 1992 (co-authored with Professor Garčević) was released in January 2025.

Edward P. Joseph is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute and Adjunct Lecturer at SAIS, specializing in Conflict Management. Edward served on the ground in the Balkans for a dozen years, including during the conflicts in each war-affected country: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and then-Macedonia.

In 2012, as the US-nominated Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Edward negotiated the breakthrough agreement with Pristina and Belgrade to hold Serbian elections in independent Kosovo.

In July 1995, Edward and one UN colleague coordinated the evacuation of Zepa, close to neighboring Srebrenica.

In 1995-1996, Edward deployed with the NATO Implementation Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a US Army officer. He is a veteran and former Army helicopter pilot.

Edward has authored dozens of articles and reports on the region, including in . His June 2023 Foreign Policy article, ‘The United States is Creating a Kosovo Crisis’ described the overlooked obstacle to establishing autonomy for Kosovo Serbs. Edward was the lead author on the January 2022 SAIS-Wilson Center report explaining how the European non-recognizers (of Kosovo) stymie the entire region, and setting out a corrective strategy.

Edward has led and currently serves on the Board of the National Council on US-Libya Relations. Edward earned his J.D. at the University of Virginia School of Law, and his B.A. and M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and its School of Advanced International Studies.

Host or Publisher Johns Hopkins SAIS Foreign Policy Institute (FPI)