Wilson Center Experts
Keith Brown
European Studies
Affiliation:
Associate Professor (Research), Brown University
Related Content for this Expert
Trading with the Enemy: How Albanians Armed Macedonia's Revolutionaries in 1903
February 22, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Drawn from a larger project which examines the relationships between ethnic identity and anti-Ottoman insurgency in early 20th century Macedonia, Keith Brown, an associate professor at Brown University will focus on the specific instance of the Ilinden Uprising of 1903. more
163. Determined Histories: Macedonia In The International Arena
Jul 07, 2011September 1998 - Grand narratives of Southeast European history can be objects of suspicion, especially when today's confrontations are traced into the past and dubbed as "ancient hatreds." The careful scholar who deconstructs such presentist approaches, however, faces another problem. Past national distinctiveness, when asserted by collective struggle, is a key asset in current political claims. By maintaining a neutral stance on a nation's history, a scholar may be branded as hostile to that nation. more
348. The After-Life of Projects: Mapping Democracy-Promotion in the Western Balkans and Beyond
Jul 07, 2011March 2008 - Since the 1990s, an array of international organizations has devoted considerable time and energy to democracy promotion in the Western Balkans. A major strand of this work has comprised civil society assistance, increasingly targeted at the community level. Official evaluations of this work tend to emphasize quantitative indicators of increasing civic participation, reduced incidence of inter-ethnic violence and socio-economic progress. They tend not to portray the empirical realities of democratization, or the less tangible, longer-term impacts of such efforts. The ongoing research project described here aims to offer a longitudinal case-study in US civil society programming which combines academic and policy perspectives. Our goal is to examine closely and systematically the impacts and lessons from a single project, while factoring in the wider context. more
310. Principle, Pragmatism and Political Capital: Assessing Macedonia's Leadership, 1992-2004
Jul 07, 2011January 2005 - In November 2004, the US government recognized the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name, the Republic of Macedonia. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher described this as underscoring US commitment to "a permanent, multiethnic and democratic Macedonia within its existing borders." The recognition, on the eve of a potentially divisive referendum in the country, can be seen as belated acknowledgment of the achievement of Macedonia's political leadership since the country's declaration of independence in 1991. Despite economic and political pressure from its southern neighbor Greece, persistent military threat from Milosevic's Serbia to the north and high-profile tensions over the collective rights of Albanians within the country, which precipitated an armed insurgency in 2001, Macedonia has emerged as a candidate for EU membership, with all major political forces committed to interethnic accommodation and market democracy. more
Greek Gifts: Archaeophilia, Ochlocracy and Monochromatism in Contemporary Macedonia
March 10, 2010 // 11:00am — 12:30pm
As part of their program of "national revival," the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has embarked on a program of "antiquization" to lay claim to the legacy of Alexander the Great—in ways that resemble a longer process of antiquization in Greece, and which contribute to tensions between the two countries. This paper reviews the debate over antiquization within the Republic, focusing in particular on the robust critiques offered by a range of dissidents who risk being labeled as "dissidents" or "traitors." It then explores the similarities between the Republic's present and Greece's recent and more distant past, in which scholars and activists who questioned assumptions of cultural continuity and national purity have faced sanctions ranging from stalled career paths to lawsuits and death threats. more
Trading with the Enemy: How Albanians Armed Macedonia's Revolutionaries in 1903
February 22, 2012 // 12:00pm — 1:00pm
Drawn from a larger project which examines the relationships between ethnic identity and anti-Ottoman insurgency in early 20th century Macedonia, Keith Brown, an associate professor at Brown University will focus on the specific instance of the Ilinden Uprising of 1903.
Greek Gifts: Archaeophilia, Ochlocracy and Monochromatism in Contemporary Macedonia
March 10, 2010 // 11:00am — 12:30pm
As part of their program of "national revival," the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has embarked on a program of "antiquization" to lay claim to the legacy of Alexander the Great—in ways that resemble a longer process of antiquization in Greece, and which contribute to tensions between the two countries. This paper reviews the debate over antiquization within the Republic, focusing in particular on the robust critiques offered by a range of dissidents who risk being labeled as "dissidents" or "traitors." It then explores the similarities between the Republic's present and Greece's recent and more distant past, in which scholars and activists who questioned assumptions of cultural continuity and national purity have faced sanctions ranging from stalled career paths to lawsuits and death threats.
348. The After-Life of Projects: Mapping Democracy-Promotion in the Western Balkans and Beyond
Jul 07, 2011March 2008 - Since the 1990s, an array of international organizations has devoted considerable time and energy to democracy promotion in the Western Balkans. A major strand of this work has comprised civil society assistance, increasingly targeted at the community level. Official evaluations of this work tend to emphasize quantitative indicators of increasing civic participation, reduced incidence of inter-ethnic violence and socio-economic progress. They tend not to portray the empirical realities of democratization, or the less tangible, longer-term impacts of such efforts. The ongoing research project described here aims to offer a longitudinal case-study in US civil society programming which combines academic and policy perspectives. Our goal is to examine closely and systematically the impacts and lessons from a single project, while factoring in the wider context.
310. Principle, Pragmatism and Political Capital: Assessing Macedonia's Leadership, 1992-2004
Jul 07, 2011January 2005 - In November 2004, the US government recognized the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name, the Republic of Macedonia. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher described this as underscoring US commitment to "a permanent, multiethnic and democratic Macedonia within its existing borders." The recognition, on the eve of a potentially divisive referendum in the country, can be seen as belated acknowledgment of the achievement of Macedonia's political leadership since the country's declaration of independence in 1991. Despite economic and political pressure from its southern neighbor Greece, persistent military threat from Milosevic's Serbia to the north and high-profile tensions over the collective rights of Albanians within the country, which precipitated an armed insurgency in 2001, Macedonia has emerged as a candidate for EU membership, with all major political forces committed to interethnic accommodation and market democracy.
163. Determined Histories: Macedonia In The International Arena
Jul 07, 2011September 1998 - Grand narratives of Southeast European history can be objects of suspicion, especially when today's confrontations are traced into the past and dubbed as "ancient hatreds." The careful scholar who deconstructs such presentist approaches, however, faces another problem. Past national distinctiveness, when asserted by collective struggle, is a key asset in current political claims. By maintaining a neutral stance on a nation's history, a scholar may be branded as hostile to that nation.