Small State Strategies and Miseries in the Western Balkan
Book talk on Robert Austin’ Royal Fraud: The Story of Albania’s First and Last King
CEU Democracy Institute, CEU Press, Munk School of the University of Toronto, and Political Capital Institute organizes a book talk and roundtable discussion titled Small State Strategies and Miseries in the Western Balkans – A Discussion on Robert Austin’s Royal Fraud: The Story of Albania’s First and Last King.
Date: 9 December 2024, 16:00-17:30 CET
Language: English
Venue: CEU, N13 Room 606 (Budapest, Nádor street 15.)
If you would like to attend, please register here.
Program
Opening Remarks: Linda Kunos, CEU Press
Speakers
Robert C. Austin – Professor and Associate Director for European and Eurasian Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
Lucija Balikic – Doctoral candidate, Department of Historical Studies, Central European University
Ferenc Németh – Expert on Western Balkans
Balázs Trencsényi – Professor, History Department, Central European University
Moderator: Péter Krekó – Director, Political Capital Institute; Research Affiliate, CEU DI
Topics for Discussion
In addition to exploring the life and legacy of King Zog, the book talk and roundtable discussion will address:
The influence of leaders in the Balkans as they navigated relationships with superpowers.
Small state strategies for wielding influence on the international stage.
The pitfalls and challenges of failed Westernization attempts.
Description of the book: Beginning in 1961, when Albanian King Zog I died in a Paris hospital after 22 years in exile, this book tells the story of this Balkan country's first and only monarch. The road to becoming Europe's youngest president in 1925 and king of Albania in 1928 was paved with feuds and assassinations, a political career-path common in the region. Zog retained his power until his "friend" Mussolini ousted him in 1939. Robert Austin holds that Zog left Albania almost as he found it, with almost no roads or trains, thoroughly uneducated and utterly impoverished.
The collapse of communist rule and the chaotic years of regime change saw, among other things, the miserable attempts of Zog's son Leka to revindicate his royal power. In his book, Robert Austin combines Zog's adventurous life story with a studious analysis of Albania's political history from the fall of the Ottoman Empire to the threshold of Euro-Atlantic integration.
