Professor Vassilis Fouskas presents in the UK and Bosnia

27/10/2011

15 September 2011 Workshop, Sussex University
Professor Vassilis K. Fouskas recently participated in a debate at Sussex University on the subject of empires and imperialism in history, in conjunction with Barry Buzan, Kees van der Pijl and other established international relations (IR) scholars.

The workshop was organised by Professor Justin Rosenberg, Head of the Department of IR at Sussex and under the aegis of BIAS's Historical Sociology group. Vassilis, who presented a paper entitled, What is Imperialism?, explained the rise and fall of empires throughout history with particular emphasis on capitalist history. He argued that today there is an underlying powershift from the Atlantic heartland towards what he termed the 'global East' that is, China, Brazil, India, Russia, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey.

27-29 October 2011 Balkan Conference, Bosnia
As a special guest of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia, Professor Vassilis K.Fouskas was honoured to present the keynote address at the opening of the Balkan Conference.

His paper entitled Explaining the European Debt Crisis Today: Lessons from Eastern Europe and the Balkans shed light on the debt problems that transition societies faced in Eastern Europe and the Balkans during the 1990s and, by extending his enquiry to present-day Europe, urged policy makers to abandon financial/neo-liberal instruments to solve the current debt crisis. In their stead, societies have to be consulted, bringing social welfare and the state back in, making Europe look like Sweden rather than a landscape ruled by bankers and bond-dealers.

In addition to the conference, Professor Fouskas also led a seminar with PhD students from the University of Banja Luka, advising them on research and how to publish research papers with important, international journals.

Professor Fouskas is the founder and managing editor of the academic periodical, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.

Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1225.aspx