The Conflict Management Program

is pleased to invite you to

Other Extremisms: Nationalist Violent Extremism and

Reciprocal Radicalization in Serbia
The topics of extremism, violent extremism, and radicalization leading to terrorism have constituted
an increasingly prominent area of policy interest and donor support in recent years, globally and in
the western Balkans. The main manifestation of extremism of interest to foreign donors (and often
domestic authorities) is ISIS-inspired violent jihadism. However, in many of the countries in the
region there are other forms of extremism – namely far-right nationalism, violent hooliganism, and
neo-Nazi movements – that are often considered to be more of a threat, particularly as they are often
viewed as examples of “normalized” political expression. In this event, three authors involved in
research on this topic in Serbia will present findings included in the recently released book,
Extremism and Violent Extremism in Serbia: 21-st Century Manifestations of an Historical
Challenge, to provoke discussion on this issue in that country, but also the region. The book
summary can be found at: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/extremism-and-violent-extremism-in-
serbia/9783838212609

Monday May 6, 2:00 – 3:30PM

Room 756
1717 Massachusetts Ave.
NW, Washington, DC 20036

Ana Dević is a political and cultural sociologist who obtained her PhD from the University of California
at San Diego. Ana has specialized in nationalism, social movements, and the politics of arts, focused
on the post-Yugoslav space. She worked at the University of Glasgow, Aarhus University, Brown
University, and Fatih in Istanbul. Presently, Ana is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie senior fellow at the KU
University of Leuven. Her current project is dealing with Turkish aid for the reconstruction of cultural
monuments and educational development in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Ana Dević’s recent
publications include: “Theatre of Diversity and Avant-Garde in Late Socialist Yugoslavia and What
Came After” (2018), “Ottomanism and Neo-Ottomanism in the Travails of the ‘Serbian National
Corpus’” (2016) and “What Nationalism Has Buried: Powerlessness, Culture, and Discontent” (2015).

Valery Perry has worked in the Western Balkans since the late 1990s, conducting research and working
for organizations including the Democratization Policy Council (DPC), the European Center for
Minority Issues (ECMI), the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), the NATO
Stabilization Force (SFOR), and several NGOs. She joined the OSCE Mission to Serbia as Project
Coordinator on a project to prevent and counter violent extremism, serving in this capacity from autumn
2017 through early 2019. She previously worked at the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in
Sarajevo as Deputy Director of the Education Department, and Deputy Director of the Human
Dimension Department. She has consulted for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the UN
Development Program, the Regional Cooperation Council, USAID, IMPAQ International, and other
organizations. Valery has also taught graduate level courses in a conflict analysis and reconciliation
program at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology. She received a BA from the University of Rochester, an MA from
Indiana University’s Russian and East European Institute, and a PhD from George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis
and Resolution. Valery has published numerous articles and book chapters, has spoken at conferences and policy events in the United
States and throughout Europe, and has testified at the U.S. Congress. In 2015, Ashgate published a book she co-edited with Soeren
Keil, entitled, Statebuilding and Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Niké Wentholt is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Her doctoral
project, studying political parties' strategies towards dealing with the violent past in Bulgaria and Serbia
in the context of EU accession, started in October 2014 and is funded by the Netherlands Organization
for Scientific Research (NWO). For this currently ongoing project she conducted research in Bulgaria
and Serbia. She obtained an MSc degree in Russian and East European Studies from the University of
Oxford. She completed her undergraduate studies in History at the University of Groningen (cum
laude).

Sinisa Vukovic Moderator

Associate Director, Conflict Management Program
SAIS

RSVP: https://other-extremisms-serbia.eventbrite.com

photo ID will be checked at the door

For disability accommodations, please contact saisevents@jhu.edu or 202-999-3332 at least one week prior to the event.