Turkey (Turkiye) – Balkans

Updated (formerly “Experiencing the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Middle East)

The 2026 Turkey-Balkans Dialogue investigates the international position of Türkiye (its official name) and the former Yugoslav (FY) states, especially in the context of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Having been a part of the Ottoman Turkish empire for centuries, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia have strong connections with Türkiye. This interconnectedness is especially apparent as FY states seek to join the EU and as Balkan states continue to manage refugee and migrant “flows” coming from Türkiye throughout the “Balkan Route” – starting in Greece (a Balkan EU/NATO member) and continuing through North Macedonia (Balkan NATO member) and Serbia (Balkan non-EU/non-NATO country) and back again into the EU (Germany especially).

The course tracks the collapse of the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires and the making of modern Türkiye and Yugoslavia. Building upon Yugoslavia’s wars in the 1990s and post-war transitions, we examine domestic and international drivers of civil wars, foreign interventions, and war crimes trials in former Yugoslavia, as well as their relevancy to ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. We also examine the increasing global interest (or as we see it, “meddling”) in the Balkans, from the European Union and NATO, to Russia, China, Arab States, Iran, Israel and Turkey.

For more information, please see the Global Experience Office website found here.

Upcoming Information Sessions for Summer 2026:

• November 19th on Zoom
• November 20th on Zoom