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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Russia: A Tale of Two Ivans [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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The extraordinary tale of how a small fortressed city became the centre of the largest contiguous landmass in the world, presented by Misha Glenny. It was Peter the Great who created a new capital on the Baltic, and Cath…
Russia: The Sacred Song of War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:20
Misha Glenny's final programme on Russia looks at the country's attitude to war, and in particular the great patriotic wars against Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte. With contributions from Antony Beevor, author of St…
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With Sir John Eliot, plus exciting news.
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Poland: Stalin on One Side, Hitler From the Left [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:59
Misha Glenny on the extraordinary history of Poland - includes the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and how Solidarity set in motion the Soviet Union's collapse.Recorded on location in Warsaw, Kr…
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Duration: 30:24
"The last king of Poland was arrested, put in chains and marched off to Russia." Professor Norman Davies.Between 1795 and 1918 there was no Poland, but the idea of Poland remained extremely strong. Travelling by bus and…
Poland: A Nation Without a State [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:24
"The last king of Poland was arrested, put in chains and marched off to Russia." Professor Norman Davies.Between 1795 and 1918 there was no Poland, but the idea of Poland remained extremely strong. Travelling by bus and…