Stokes to Lecture on ‘The Balkan Mess’ April 8

Stokes to Lecture on ‘The Balkan Mess’ April 8

RICE NEWS
April 8, 1999

Gale Stokes, professor of history at Rice and an expert on Eastern Europe and
the Balkans, will explain why the Balkans–which include Kosovo–are a quagmire
and outline possible solutions to the situation.

Stokes will give a talk titled "The Balkan Mess: Background and Solutions"
at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 8, in James A. Baker III Hall. The event is sponsored
by Rice’s School of Humanities and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public
Policy. The lecture is free and open to the public.

During the lecture, Stokes will address topics such as who are the Albanians,
what are the sources of nationalism, and how the events in the Balkans–including
Kosovo–are the result of 150 years of European history. The historian will
also offer some suggestions about what a politically stable Balkans might look
like some day.

Stokes, who speaks Serbo-Croatian, is the author of numerous books about Eastern
Europe. His most recent is titled "Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern
Europe," (Oxford Press 1997). He has recently served as a analyst on developments
in Kosovo, as a result of the NATO air strikes, for news programs including
Voice of America, KTRH 740-AM, and KTRK-TV, Channel 13.