Cross-Regional Ethnopolitics in Central and Eastern Europe

“Vassilis Petsinis is to be congratulated for producing an important scholastic work that informs the reader of important political cross-currents in two important parts of the European continent.”

—Karl Cordell, The University of Plymouth, UK

“In his highly engaging and empirically rich new book, Petsinis updates earlier scholarly debates on Ethnopolitics—in particular, theoretical works on the triadic and quadratic nexus approaches—to take account of more recent political developments such as Euroscepticism, right-wing populism and nativism.”

—Richard C. M. Mole, Professor of Political Sociology, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UK


“Vassilis Petsinis offers an original and innovative look at the many dimensions of ethnopolitics in Central and Eastern Europe.”


—Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham, UK

This book bridges the gap between academic researchers and policymaking experts working on the Western Balkans and those dealing with the Baltic States. Within the frame of a comparative and cross-regional approach, Vassilis Petsinis generates new insights in subjects as diverse as: how geopolitics shape the management of ethnic relations; the variants of Euroscepticism; opposition to immigration and LGBTQI rights; the patterns of multi-ethnic cohabitation; as well as the endeavour by parties of the populist and radical right to embed their platforms into the longer trajectories of ethno-nationalism in the countries and societies studied (Estonia and Latvia from the Baltic States; Croatia and Serbia from the Western Balkans). This work also assesses the extent to which the centrality of ethnic cleavages can be contested, temporarily effaced, or ultimately transformed by the increasing significance of the economy (social welfare and transparency) in multi-ethnic societies. The book adds a sound contribution towards updating and upgrading the study of ethnopolitics not solely across Central and Eastern Europe, but as a whole.

Vassilis Petsinis is Senior Research Fellow in Comparative Politics at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia.