Europe has witnessed significant political and social turbulence over the past decade. The rise of anti-immigrant, nativist, and populist movements, the erosion of traditional political parties, widening socioeconomic disparities, and increasing polarisation have profoundly unsettled the European order. From the shock of the 2016 Brexit referendum to the seismic impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, recent developments have challenged long-held assumptions.

In this lecture, Siniša Malešević critically examines the conventional wisdom that nationalism and war are relics of Europe’s past. Drawing on a longue durée sociological perspective, he will argue that these forces remain deeply embedded in modernity. Rather than anomalies, the resurgence of nationalism and organised violence should be understood as part of broader historical patterns shaping contemporary Europe.

The lecture will be followed by an interactive Q&A session and a networking reception, offering a valuable opportunity for scholars and students to exchange ideas and build connections.

This event is the Annual Lecture of the Annual Review of the JCMS, hosted by the LSE European Institute and UACES.

Meet our speaker and chair 

Siniša Malešević is Full Professor of Comparative Historical Sociology at the University College Dublin. He was appointed UCD Chair of Sociology in September 2011. Previously he held research and teaching appointments at the Institute for International Relations (Zagreb), the Centre for the Study of Nationalism, CEU (Prague) - where he worked with late Ernest Gellner -, and at the University of Galway. He also held visiting professorships and fellowships at NIAS/NIOD Amsterdam, Uppsala University, Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Eric Remacle Chair in Conflict and Peace Studies), the London School of Economics, the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna and the Australian Defence College, Canberra. Professor Malesevic is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (elected in 2010), Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe, elected in 2014) and an Associated Member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (elected in 2012). He is also Senior Fellow and Associated Researcher at CNAM, Paris. Prof Malesevic's main research interests include the study of war and violence, ethnicity, nation-states, and nationalism, empires, ideology, sociological theory and the comparative historical sociology.

Jasna Dragovic-Soso is Visiting Professor at LSEE Research on South East Europe, Hellenic Observatory Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece & Cyprus, LSE. She has written extensively about memory politics, transitional justice, nationalism, state disintegration and international intervention, with a focus on former Yugoslavia and the post-Yugoslav region. She is currently writing a book about truth commission initiatives and memory politics in the post-conflict Balkans and co-editing the Brill Handbook on Regions of Memory: Southeastern Europe. From 2022 to 2024, she was Director of Centre for the Study of the Balkans at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Maya Tudor is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and Fellow at St Hilda's College at the University of Oxford. Her research investigates the origins of effective and democratic states with a regional focus on South Asia. Before embarking on an academic career, Maya worked as a Special Assistant to Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz at the World Bank, at UNICEF, in the United States Senate, and at the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.

Vesna Popovski is LSE Fellow in Conflict and Post-Conflict Studies. 


Nationalism and War in 21st-Century Europe

07 Insecure lives, secure futures? Laura Lane

08 Scaling social innovation at LSE, Kayleigh Cunoosamy

09 The new facts of life, Professor Emily Jackson

10 Children's visions of digital futures, Kym Sylwander & Aisling

11 How can data help us to understand and address complex problems? Dr Alexandra Gomes

13 What is it like to be interviewed by AI, and how will it transform research? Justine Nayral

12 Perceptions of inequality - what do we really know? Queena Chong

On the May 7th, 2025, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22nd. On May 10th a ceasefire was reached following mediation from the United States. 

To discuss the US’ part in brokering a ceasefire, and the US’ responses to disputes between India and Pakistan over the past three decades, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. 

The conversation covers the recent India–Pakistan crisis and the US’ role, how US involvement in the Kashmir dispute has evolved over the years, and how China’s growing influence has complicated how the US approaches India–Pakistan relations. 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.   

Further reading and resources 

“How America Can Keep the Peace Between India and Pakistan”, Foreign Affairs, May 13, 2025 

“Democracy in South Asia amid U.S. Aid Cuts What’s at Stake for Great Power Competition”, Center for a New American Security, May 15. 2025 

LSE: The Ballpark | The US and India–Pakistan tensions with Lisa Curtis

In January 2025, the release of a new model and chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, sent shockwaves through the tech industry in the US and elsewhere. DeepSeek’s launch was only one milestone in the ongoing AI competition between China and the US which has seen the US try to restrict the exports of key components used in AI development to other countries.

In the second episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre explored the ongoing AI competition between China and the US with Angela Zhang, Professor of Law at the Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California. Professor Zhang is an expert on AI regulation, both in China and globally.

They spoke about China’s current approach to AI regulation, and how this compares with the US, and why China may be content with being a “close second” in the AI race.

Further reading and resources

•	High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy by Angela Huyue Zhang (Oxford University Press, 2024)
•	The Promise and Perils of China’s Regulation of Artificial Intelligence, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 21 January 2025


LSE: The Ballpark | The US-China AI race with Professor Angela Zhang

In response to what the US sees as potential growing threats from China and North Korea, nuclear weapons are becoming a more and more important part of US alliance commitments and partnerships in East Asia. But what does this focus on nuclear weapons for both deterrence and reassurance mean for US foreign policy and for the security of the region? And could there be an alternative which puts a greater focus on conventional armed forces?

To discuss these topics, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Lauren Sukin about her recent article, in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, with Samuel Seitz of MIT, “Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce”. Dr Sukin is Assistant Professor in LSE’s Department of International Relations and a Centre Affiliate at the LSE Phelan US Centre. 

Further reading and resources

-	Seitz, S. and Sukin, L. (2025). Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce. Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, [online] 8(1), pp.15–35. 

LSE: The Ballpark | Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence with Dr Lauren Sukin

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Nationalism and War in 21st-Century Europe

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