Book Discussion: Unintended Nations: France’s Empire of Civilization, Southeast Europe, and the Post-Napoleonic World, by Alex R. Tipei

Session Submission Type: Book Discussion Roundtable

Brief Description

This book discussion roundtable on Alex R. Tipei's Unintended Nation (scheduled publication August 1, 2025, McGill-Queen's University Press) considers French and British engagement (respectively) in the Balkans and the impact of diplomatic, economic, and cultural interventions on the development of politics and identity in the region. Both studies place Franco- and Anglo-Balkan relations in the context of larger imperial concerns and bring together an analysis that operates on multiple scales (local, regional, continental, global). The author will discuss their contributions, joined by other scholars interested in furthering a transnational understanding of Southeast Europe’s history in the nineteenth century. The panel aims to explore new insights about the exercise of informal empire and soft power in Southeast Europe and the place of the region in larger global dynamics.

Sub Unit

• History: 1800-1900

Chair

• Vladislav Lilic, Florida International U

Roundtable Speakers

• Georgios Giannakopoulos, U of London (UK)

• Vladislav Lilic, Florida International U

• Alex Tipei, U of Montreal (Canada)