"By debunking myths and addressing grievances, democratic leaders will not eliminate authoritarian nostalgia altogether...[but they can] make it harder for former dictators and their children to ride authoritarian nostalgia to high office." muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/a...

My latest article has been published in Contemporary Arab Affairs, “Symbolic Membership and Aspirational Sovereignty: Palestine and the Politics of International Organization Participation” It explores how contested states use IO’s to advance claims to statehood & legitimacy. doi.org/10.1163/1755...

Read @lianafix.bsky.social on how Germany’s rearmament could foster competition and erode stability across Europe:

Liberal democracy isn’t over, it’s being tested. What can be crushed is illiberalism masquerading as democracy. The real fight isn’t democracy vs. decline, but democracy vs. distortion. #Hungary

Memory is never neutral. My review of Hofmeister’s Remembering Suffering and Resistance examines how the Serbian Orthodox Church shapes narratives of suffering, resistance, and national identity. Published in @sudosteuropa.bsky.social Mitteilungen (2025).

In my latest book review, I discuss @gezimvisoka.bsky.social & @rameshg.bsky.social “Sub-State Recognition: The Politics of Recognition from Below”, a powerful challenge to the state-centric orthodoxy of recognition and a major contribution to sovereignty studies. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RRISX...

Visoka and Brajshori (2025) show that aspirant states like Kosovo use protean power—adaptability, innovation, and improvisation—to navigate barriers to recognition and gain partial legitimacy in international organizations. academic.oup.com/fpa/article/...

At 32, Mart Laar set out to defy the Soviet model, armed with one economics book, Free to Choose, and the conviction that all Marxist texts were wrong. The result was Estonia, a modern state built in record time. Happy Restoration of Independence Day #Estonia 🇪🇪!

My review of Ukshini’s book “Roli i Politikës së Jashtme të Gjermanisë ndaj Kosovës 1990–2008” is out now in Comparative Southeast European Studies. The book is in Albanian a contribution to SEE studies, grounded in German sources & rich in historical insight. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Meine Rezension zu @gezimvisoka.bsky.social Buch “The Derecognition of States” ist soeben in @sudosteuropa.bsky.social Mitteilungen (04/2025) erschienen. Das Buch bietet eine wegweisende Analyse der Aberkennung als diplomatische Praxis, die Staaten mit begrenzter Anerkennung prägt.

In the latest issue of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, I reviewed @gezimvisoka.bsky.social book “The Derecognition of States”, a pioneering work on the politics and practice of derecognition in International Relations. brill.com/view/journal...

And also my other article published in the Journal of European Integration History: “Navigating Kosovo’s International Organisations Membership: Assessing EU Member States’ Shifting Positions”. www.nomos-elibrary.de/de/10.5771/0...

Here you can find my recently published article in the European Review of International Studies: “Performing Sovereignty: Kosovo and the Strategies of International Integration for States with Limited Recognition”. brill.com/view/journal...

Here my latest article published in the Canadian Journal of European and Russian Studies. It examines how a handful of states leverage their influence in IO’s to hinder Kosovo’s membership, revealing the impact of politicization on IO’s. ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/CJ...

For almost 3 decades, Kosovo has benefited from a world order that enabled its liberation, independence, security & international recognition. But that same liberal order that made the modern Kosovo is fading. Whether Kosovo can wisely navigate what comes next remains to be seen.

Robert C. Austin’s “Royal Fraud: The Story of Albania’s First and Last King” is a well-summarized account of a critical period in Albanian history. While engaging, it doesn’t offer new insights beyond existing scholarship. A good read, but not groundbreaking.

In 2008, 5 EU member states chose to align their stance on Kosovo with Moscow rather than Washington. It was the EU that used the Konstantin Kosachev- Marty report as a tool to undermine Kosovo. And now, the same Europe expects to fight Russia—until the last American soldier.

In Kosovo, we’re still stuck navigating our never-ending provincial complexities—no rush. We’ll have plenty of time to grab popcorn and watch the big geopolitical blockbuster unfolding in Europe later.

Coffee, a book, and #Prishtina’s everyday buzz. Simple moments.

Kosovo is about to face a harsh reality: the world of 1999 and 2008 is long gone. Unless its political elites recognize the new global landscape, they are leading the country toward a rude awakening. In foreign policy, naivety is never the norm!

By 2030, it is highly plausible that Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina will come to be referred to as the Adriatic Hinterland, marking a shift from the “Western Balkans” narrative to one of geographical liminality. By that time, it appears the Adriatic…

Culture shapes geopolitics. Prussia’s wars with Russia coexisted with shared ties, like czarist commanders of Prussian origin. As U.S. commitment to Europe wavers, Germany’s path becomes uncertain—caught between history, identity, and shifting alliances.

Tanpınar once wrote that “the East is a place to sit and wait.” But history shifts its center of gravity over time & now “Europe has become a place to sit and wait.” It is a capture of the cyclical nature of historical momentum, where civilizations rise, evolve & pause, awaiting their next chapter.

As the year ends, I’m looking back on the books I read and revisited in 2024. From tech and politics to history and fiction, here’s my 2024 reading list.

35 years ago, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was founded—the first Albanian democratic political party in Southeast Europe & the largest political movement in Kosovo’s history. Under Ibrahim Rugova’s leadership, it internationalized Kosovo’s struggle & laid foundations for independence.

Serbia has interest in escalating tensions now to divert attention from its domestic challenges & exploit transition in Washington. A new phase in the continuation of the Banjska attack & #Serbia's state-sponsored terrorism. Also it will hugely exploit the deep polarized landscape in #Kosovo further

Yuval Noah Hariri: History is often shaped not by deterministic power relations, but rather by tragic mistakes that result from believing in mesmerising but harmful stories.

Chants of “Kosovo is Serbia” have become a common occurrence at football matches across Europe whenever Kosovo’s national team is. The chanting has grown more frequent and aggressive, even extending to matches where Kosovo-born players represent other national teams.