Garčević Publishes Research in Montenegrin Journal of Social Sciences
Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a journal article in the Montenegrin Journal of Social Sciences discussing how the Yugoslav idea was born.
In the article, titled “Imagining Yugoslavia – a social construct or/and an idea with the purpose,” Garčević argues that the process of “imagining Yugoslavia” captured the zeitgeist of the late 18th and 19th century when modern European nations were born. The article does not propose an alternative approach to the study of Yugoslav history nor does it argue that Yugoslavia was a democratic state; rather, the paper explores how Yugoslavia had difficulty maintaining “mass support” because it was a civic nation organized as a multinational state.
Throughout the piece, Garčević argues that Yugoslavia’s major challenge throughout its short existence was keeping “national and political unity” in congruence, which is a precondition for a nation to exist.
An excerpt:
Was Yugoslavia a “dungeon of nations” as portrayed by nationalists in former Yugoslav states? Was it a brutal communist tyranny, as the former Croatian President refers to it? Or, was it a manifestation of the radical diversity, hybridity, and idealism that characterized the Yugoslav state, as Yugoslavia is described by the organizers of the MoMA exhibition2. The debate over what Yugoslavia is never stops and is as vivid today as it was 20 years ago.
The full article can be read here.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about him here.