The Balkans: What Are the Balkans?

The Balkans: What Are the Balkans?

Author: BBC Radio 4 April 3, 2026 Duration: 41:34

June 28 1914 - a young Bosnian on a street corner in Sarajevo fired a shot that triggered World War One. Why is this region so unstable, and what lessons can we learn from that event. Misha Glenny was a famous reporter during the wars of the 1990s, well-placed to find answers in a region he's travelled for years. Is the violence the fault of the people who live here, or are there bigger, outside forces at work?

This is the latest from the team behind The Invention of ... series which has recently been to China, Russia, Turkey and Hungary. Much of it is recorded on location, and contributors include Vesna Goldsworthy, Maria Todorova and Tim Butcher, author of The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Bought the World to War.

Misha Glenny is the outgoing rector of the IWM in Vienna and presenter of In Our Time. His reporting from Yugoslavia won a Sony Gold in 1993.

The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde. This is series eighteen and other contributors include Hannah Lucinda-Smith, Ivan Krastev, James Heneage, Lea Ypi, Faruk Sehic and Dubravka Stojanovic. Locations include Sarajevo, Belgrade and Thessaloniki in northern Greece and the team occasionally pause for lunch.


We often take the world map for granted, but the lines that define nations are far from permanent. In How to Invent a Country, award-winning journalist Misha Glenny, presented by BBC Radio 4, digs into the fascinating and often turbulent processes that bring a nation into being. This isn't just a dry history lesson; it's an exploration of the powerful forces-political ambition, cultural narratives, and sheer accident-that draw borders and forge identities. Each episode takes you to a different corner of the globe, unpacking the specific moments when a place transformed from an idea or a territory into a country recognized by the world. You'll hear about the contested lands, the foundational myths, and the real people whose lives were shaped by these creations. This podcast reveals how the countries we know today were invented, showing that their stories are alive, contested, and continually being rewritten. Tune in for a compelling journey that changes how you see every line on the map.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The Invention Of...
Podcast Episodes
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Taiwan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:55
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Duration: 41:36
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from."Twentieth century China is the most extraordinary place, and Mao is at the heart of nearly all of it."With the help…
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China: Imperial Collapse [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:52
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China: To Kowtow or Not Kowtow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
Britain was late in its contacts with China and the Qing dynasty - the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Spanish had all headed east long before Lord McCartney's embassy tried to establish a formal relationship in 1792/3. Al…
China: To Kowtow or Not Kowtow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
Britain was late in its contacts with China and the Qing dynasty - the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Spanish had all headed east long before Lord McCartney's embassy tried to establish a formal relationship in 1792/3. Al…
China: The First Emperor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:20
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from."The empire long united must divide, long divided must unite. Thus it has ever been." The opening lines of a fourtee…
China: The First Emperor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:20
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from."The empire long united must divide, long divided must unite. Thus it has ever been." The opening lines of a fourtee…