The Balkan Powder Keg. What Smoulders Beneath the Ashes”
16 December 2025
Lecture by Pierluigi Sabatti
A new event in the lecture series promoted by the cultural association “Manlio Cecovini Study Society” is scheduled for Tuesday 16 December at 6 p.m.
At the Antico Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Pierluigi Sabatti will deliver a lecture entitled “The Balkan Powder Keg. What Smoulders Beneath the Ashes”.
The talk will offer an in-depth reflection on the ongoing geopolitical fragility of the Balkans, an area described as “the powder keg of Europe” since the years of the Great War. Sabatti will examine the role and interests of major powers – the United States, Russia and China – and how they interact within a complex and constantly shifting regional landscape. Attention will also be given to Europe, still affected by internal centrifugal forces, and to Serbia, today the most unstable country in the peninsula, caught between European aspirations and strong ties with Moscow.
Pierluigi Sabatti, a journalist and writer from Trieste, is one of the most authoritative voices on foreign policy and the Balkan region. A graduate in law, after various professional experiences he joined Il Piccolo, where he held several positions and created the page “Istria, Litorale e Quarnero”. He has collaborated, and continues to collaborate, with Rai, with national and regional publications, and has written essays and works of fiction centred on history, particularly that of the former Yugoslavia and the ethnic minorities of the area. He has served as president of the Regional Institute for the History of the Resistance of Friuli Venezia Giulia, currently directs the journal Qualestoria, and is president of the Trieste Press Club.
The event, free of charge, is part of the monthly series organised by the “Manlio Cecovini Study Society”, aimed at fostering debate and promoting deeper understanding of historical, social and ethical issues of contemporary relevance.
A new event in the lecture series promoted by the cultural association “Manlio Cecovini Study Society” is scheduled for Tuesday 16 December at 6 p.m.
At the Antico Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Pierluigi Sabatti will deliver a lecture entitled “The Balkan Powder Keg. What Smoulders Beneath the Ashes”.
The talk will offer an in-depth reflection on the ongoing geopolitical fragility of the Balkans, an area described as “the powder keg of Europe” since the years of the Great War. Sabatti will examine the role and interests of major powers – the United States, Russia and China – and how they interact within a complex and constantly shifting regional landscape. Attention will also be given to Europe, still affected by internal centrifugal forces, and to Serbia, today the most unstable country in the peninsula, caught between European aspirations and strong ties with Moscow.
Pierluigi Sabatti, a journalist and writer from Trieste, is one of the most authoritative voices on foreign policy and the Balkan region. A graduate in law, after various professional experiences he joined Il Piccolo, where he held several positions and created the page “Istria, Litorale e Quarnero”. He has collaborated, and continues to collaborate, with Rai, with national and regional publications, and has written essays and works of fiction centred on history, particularly that of the former Yugoslavia and the ethnic minorities of the area. He has served as president of the Regional Institute for the History of the Resistance of Friuli Venezia Giulia, currently directs the journal Qualestoria, and is president of the Trieste Press Club.
The event, free of charge, is part of the monthly series organised by the “Manlio Cecovini Study Society”, aimed at fostering debate and promoting deeper understanding of historical, social and ethical issues of contemporary relevance.
