CEEISA Conference Sarajevo 2026 Starts Next Week: An International Academic Conference on Imperialism(s), Security, Memory, and the Global Order
The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Sarajevo and International Burch University are the hosts of this year’s CEEISA Conference 2026, which will take place in Sarajevo from 17 to 19 June 2026 under the overarching theme “Contesting Imperialism(s)”.
CEEISA, the Central and East European International Studies Association, brings together an international academic community working in the fields of international relations, political science, European studies, security studies, and related disciplines. This year’s conference opens space for discussion on historical and contemporary forms of imperialism, relations of power, war, security, memory, justice, inequality, resistance, and transformations of the international order.
The conference programme is chaired by Prof. Dr. Aida Hozić and Prof. Dr. Dženeta Karabegović.
The conference will take place at two venues: the first two days of the programme, 17 and 18 June, will be held at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, while the final day, 19 June, will take place at International Burch University.
The conference opens on 17 June at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, with welcome addresses and the opening plenary session “Contesting Imperialism(s)”.
The keynote lectures will be delivered by Prof. Dr. Siniša Malešević of University College Dublin and Prof. Dr. Jasmina Husanović of the University of Tuzla, as part of the formal programme taking place on the second day of the conference at Sarajevo City Hall, beginning at 19:00.
Some of the panels and roundtables include topics such as: Opening Plenary: “Contesting Imperialism(s)”; Ukraine, Euro-Atlantic Security and the Transformation of the International System; Geopolitics of Genocide Memory: Denial, Victimhood, and Mobilization; 21st Century Imperialism: Spheres of Influence, Ethnopluralism and the Post-Liberal World Order; External Actors vs. Local Realities; Teaching IR in the post-Yugoslav space; Imperial Past/Imperial Present; Gaza & Solidarity: Faking It?; Book Talk: Contesting “Worlds”: The Russian World and the Serbian World between Imperialism and Nationalism; The Politics of Witnessing, Recognizing, and Denying Genocide; Economic Imperialisms; EU as an Actor; and the Closing Plenary: Affective and Aesthetic Dimensions of Loss, War, Lives in the Aftermaths and Continuums of Violence.
The full conference programme is available at:
https://ceeisa2026.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/CEEISA-2026-PROGRAM-OVERVIEW.0506.2.pdf
The programme will be updated daily until Wednesday, 17 June 2026, due to possible changes in the schedule, session times, rooms, and programme content.
All events are open to the public and will be held in English.
Among the accompanying events, we especially highlight the screening of the documentary film Where Have You Been, connected to the ŠTO TE NEMA project, which will take place after the conference opening on 17 June, from 18:00 to 20:00, at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo. The screening will be followed by a conversation with artist Aida Šehović and Tom Simpson, Board Member of ŠTO TE NEMA. The screening brings an important artistic, memorial, and social dimension to the conference, connecting academic debate with questions of memory, absence, loss, and responsibility.
On the second day of the conference, 18 June, from 16:00 to 17:30, at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, there will be a presentation of the book Shared History and Everyday Coexistence: Jews and Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The discussion will feature the editor of the volume, Dr. Dževada Garić, and Mr. sci. Rahela Džidić, President of the Jewish Community in Sarajevo, and will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Dino Abazović of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo. This event will introduce the audience to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s experience of shared life, Jewish-Muslim relations, pluralism, and everyday coexistence.
The CEEISA Conference in Sarajevo represents an important academic and social event for the University of Sarajevo, the Faculty of Political Science, International Burch University, and the City of Sarajevo. The conference brings together international researchers while also reaffirming Sarajevo as a city of knowledge, dialogue, memory, and open academic debate.
