The Breakup of Yugoslavia

The Yugoslav wars of the 1990s were a defining moment in modern history: a single country fractured into nations, religions and identities that turned on one another with extraordinary violence.

Itai Anghel traces the path from Yugoslavia's collapse to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and explains how a term like "ethnic cleansing" was born, and how it became a permanent part of international language.

Through rare footage and exclusive interviews, including an encounter with one of the world's most wanted war criminals, the lecture examines how states come apart, how wars ignite between neighbours who lived side by side for decades, and what all of it can still teach us about the conflicts of our own time.

A special version of this lecture is also available as an introduction to a screening of "Quo Vadis, Aida?", one of the most important films made about the Bosnian war.