Noam Chomsky’s Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution

An afternoon with Davor Džalto on Noam Chomsky’s Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution

The Balkans, in particular the turbulent ex-Yugoslav territory, have been among the most important world regions in Noam Chomsky’s political reflections and activism for decades. His articles, public talks, and correspondence have provided a critical voice on political and social issues crucial not only to the region but the entire international community, including “humanitarian intervention,” the relevance of international law in today’s politics, media manipulations, and economic crisis as a means of political control.

This volume provides a comprehensive survey of virtually all of Chomsky’s texts and public talks that focus on the region of the former Yugoslavia, from the 1970s to the present. With numerous articles and interviews, this collection presents a wealth of materials appearing in book form for the first time along with reflections on events twenty-five years after the official end of communist Yugoslavia and the beginning of the war in Bosnia. The book opens with a personal and wide-ranging preface by Andrej Grubačić that affirms the ongoing importance of Yugoslav history and identity, providing a context for understanding Yugoslavia as an experiment in self-management, antifascism, and mutlethnic coexistence.

Davor Džalto will address some of the most crucial political and social issues affecting both the Balkans and the international community. He is associate professor and program director at the American University of Rome and president of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Christianity. His research interests include the fields of history and politics of the Balkans, political theology, and religious philosophy. He is editor of Yugoslavia: Peace, War, and Dissolution by Noam Chomsky (PM Press, 2018).

NOAM CHOMSKY is a laureate professor at the University of Arizona and professor emeritus in the MIT Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. His work is widely credited with having revolutionized the field of modern linguistics and Chomsky is one of the foremost critics of U.S. foreign policy. He has published numerous groundbreaking books, articles, and essays on global politics, history, and linguistics. His recent books include Who Rules the World? and Hopes and Prospects.

DAVOR DZALTO is associate professor and program director at the American University of Rome and president of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Christianity. His research interests include the fields of history and politics of the Balkans, political theology, and religious philosophy.