For the semester’s final episode of “Doctor it!”, we have done a showcase of what researchers at the Vienna Doctoral Schools are interested in. In this episode, Bernd Christoph Ströhm hosts an expert interview about the Western Balkans with his research colleague Mario Holzner, Executive Director of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. Listen in when they dive into the region’s past, explain the current constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and discuss Russia’s and China’s influence on the region. Learn about the alternatives that existed to the breakup of Yugoslavia and why a boarding pass tells us a lot about the present situation of the Western Balkans. This episode was written and produced by Bernd Christoph Ströhm, Maximilian Brockhaus, Martin Pokorny, Amara Ugbo and Rasmus Wardemann, edited by Martin Pokorny, and hosted by Bernd Christoph Ströhm. Special thanks go out to our guest, Mario Holzner.