Standing fast by Poland’s national “master narrative”, the country’s schools teach that the Polish nation, defined as all the speakers of the Polish language, is a millennium old. Yet, this pairing of the Polish nation and language dates back only to the late 19th century.

In Polish popular opinion, the view that the Polish nation consists of all the speakers of the Polish language is not controversial. Hence, the Polish speech community is unreflectively equated with the Polish nation. In turn, all the territories where speakers of Polish reside compactly are deemed to rightfully constitute the Polish nation-state. 

The legacy of the Byzantine Empire in the Balkans stretches back for centuries. Today’s politics should remember that the idea of Balkan states as homogenous entities is not natural. This is a relatively new idea that was realized through violence, population exchanges and expulsion at the turn of the 20th century. This process then continued well into the 1990s with the Yugoslav Wars.

The Byzantine Empire is the medieval successor to the ancient Roman Empire. Its origins are traditionally traced back to the time when the Roman Empire began to re-position its centre of power towards the Eastern Mediterranean, adopted Constantinople as its capital, adopted Greek (rather than Latin) as its primary language, and Christianity as its official religion. This all roughly happened in the period between the years 300 and 400.  

In the Balkans, multiculturalism has come to represent a defining feature and a cause of conflict simultaneously. The region, shaped by centuries of migrations, conquests, political upheavals and civil wars, with its complex mix of cultural diversity and political instability, serves as a global example of the failure of multicultural policies. Consequently, “Balkanism” and “Balkanization” have emerged as technical terms denoting conflict driven by identity-based fragmentation.

Multiculturalism refers to 1) the coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities within a society, and 2) the social and political theory that promotes cultural diversity. It uses legal and administrative logic that seeks to regulate the coexistence of different cultures within a polity, as well as social theory that addresses the plurality of perspectives on society, the state, science, education and culture itself. It is most commonly understood in two primary ways: descriptively, as a characterization of cultural diversity, and normatively, as a theory asserting that culture plays a significant role in politics and as a practice of granting culturally distinct groups (for instance, minorities) certain special rights. Ideally, it seeks to enable their full equality. In this sense, multiculturalism has captivated generations of academic authors, journalists, politicians, NGO workers and human rights advocates. 

Vojvodina and its capital Novi Sad had been a multicultural region that once enjoyed significant autonomy from Belgrade. Sadly, it became the consolation prize that Serbian nationalists received in exchange for an independent Kosovo. Anything that deviates from the narrow framework of Serbian nationalism is now considered separatism in Vojvodina.

The Serbian region of Vojvodina – once a civic, multicultural and economic phenomenon – is rapidly being destroyed politically. In February of last year, the region remembered 50 years since the adoption of the Constitution of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the former Yugoslavia. At that time, Vojvodina had its own judicial, legislative and executive authorities. It had its own financial revenues. Like Kosovo, Vojvodina had almost all the elements of a republic, but it was still a part of Serbia. During the 1980s, Vojvodina was one of the most developed parts of socialist Yugoslavia in terms of GDP, after Slovenia and Croatia. 

Serbia has been witnessing the largest protests ever in its history in response to the tragic collapse of the main railway station’s roof in Novi Sad. The government’s response has not been sufficient to meet the protesters’ demands, as they continue to blockade universities and major roads. How long either side can maintain its position, however, remains to be seen.

University blockades and protests have been rattling Serbia for the past two months. Dissatisfied citizens, mostly students, are demanding accountability from the government for the tragedy in Novi Sad, which claimed 15 lives and left two others seriously injured. For the first time, the ruling party is facing immense public pressure. However, aside from the populist measures, threats and intimidation, it has offered no meaningful response to appease the masses calling for justice. 

Over the past year, Azerbaijan has increasingly cast itself as a liberating force for the overseas territories under French control. What can Azerbaijan gain from leading the charge against “French colonialism in Mayotte”, an island that could hardly be further from its territory?

Relations between France and Azerbaijan have soured dramatically, with a recent series of diplomatic escalations culminating in several controversial conferences organized by Baku. The conference on the “illegal French occupation of the island of Mayotte” is not the first conference they have organized that is dedicated to the subject of the French Overseas Departments and Regions. As early as May 2024, the Milli Majlis, the Azerbaijan National Assembly, hosted a conference entitled “French Polynesia’s Right to Decolonization: Problems and Prospects”.

Georgia is currently experiencing one of the most significant waves of protests in its recent history. The intensity of the protests, the high stakes involved and the repression by the authorities evoke comparisons to the 2020 protests in Belarus. However, how similar are these protests, and what can be said about the responses from the Georgian authorities, the European Union and other international actors?

The recent protests in Georgia have seen widespread mobilization across the country, with demonstrators employing various tactics to express their discontent with the government's decision to suspend accession talks with the European Union. In Tbilisi, the capital, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered for consecutive nights, waving Georgian and EU flags while chanting slogans like "Russian slaves" at law enforcement officers.

Among its Central Asian neighbours, Tajikistan’s history textbooks still most closely resemble official accounts from the Soviet era. They stress the evils of the Russian Empire’s expansion to the region. At the same time, they also remain fairly positive about Tajikistan’s Soviet experience, underlining the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic’s contribution to the Soviet state. Perhaps as a result, they have been caught in Russia’s crosshairs.

School textbooks are telling examples of official interpretations of history. They exemplify the narratives that are taught to children as part of their civic socialization controlled by governments. In countries that gained independence after the Soviet collapse, the shifts in historical narratives have been intrinsically linked to the reimagining of these countries’ Soviet past by attributing them with new meanings through the prism of post-Soviet nation-building processes. With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the debates about history textbooks gained a new momentum, and a new meaning.

The growing alignment between Moscow and Tehran represents an extraordinary development in the history of their relations, which for centuries have been characterized by intense conflicts and profound rivalry. While it is reasonable to assume that Russia and Iran may grow even closer in the short term, the uncertain nature of their relationship means that their ties could still follow unexpected or unpredictable trajectories.

In recent years, relations between the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran have deepened significantly, indicating an apparent shift from mere tactical alignment to a broader strategic convergence. Specifically, since the late 2010s, the two countries strengthened their economic and political ties, transforming mutual diplomatic support from sporadic to systematic. In this respect, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 marked a significant qualitative leap in bilateral relations.

Moldova’s recent turn towards Europe has helped to put the local economy on the map. While the country continues to pursue western integration, there is also an opportunity to benefit from stronger links with China. However, such engagement comes with as many risks as rewards.

On a crisp autumn afternoon in Moldova, a Yandex cab driver drives his BYD car through the streets of Chișinău. “It’s as good as a Lexus,” he said, nodding toward the car’s clean lines and smooth handling. BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, has rapidly expanded its global footprint and its presence in Moldova tells a compelling story. Affordable, efficient and durable, BYD cars are outpacing western rivals in emerging markets.

Nearly three years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, the Kaliningrad Oblast has been fully incorporated into Russian’s belligerent and quasi-imperial rhetoric. The Kremlin has used its exclave’s past to portray Kaliningrad as a battleground of civilizations and a special place for Russian collective memory.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the hopes were high for the Kaliningrad Oblast’s future: foreign investments, the creation of a free trade zone and even a certain degree of autonomy were all on the table. Most of them, however, remained unfulfilled as Moscow was never ready to give up its dominating authority over the region even in the face of deep economic and political crisis.

Latvia has often been overlooked when it comes to the socio-economic advancements made in the Baltics. While neighbours such as Estonia and Lithuania have promoted themselves as technological hubs, the middle Baltic state has lagged behind overall. This position appears to be due to a variety of factors.

The cover of the Latvian weekly current affairs magazine Ir for the last week of November 2024 struck a tone hardly unfamiliar in this neck of the woods: “Why are the Estonians paying less for Rail Baltica but getting it done faster?” Close observers of the nation’s mood, aspirations and insecurities over the three-and-a-bit decades since it restored its independence will have seen comparable sentiments expressed many times.