This episode of the Global Economy Podcast, hosted by Philipp Lamprecht, features Dr Bernd Christoph Ströhm and focuses on the geopolitical and economic relevance of the Western Balkans for the European Union. The conversation explores the region’s strategic importance amid increasing competition from China and Russia, challenges in the EU enlargement process, and the growing frustration among Western Balkan countries over stalled accession talks. The episode highlights how EU regulations can impose unintended costs on neighbouring countries and calls for more flexible, credible, and inclusive policies. Bernd and Philipp advocate for a more responsive, strategic, and geopolitically aware EU approach to its neighbourhood. You can watch a video recording of this conversation here. You can read a transcript of the chat here. Dr Bernd Christoph Ströhm is a Senior Fellow at the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a Senior Research Associate and Country Expert at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), and a Political Risk / OSINT Analyst at S&P Global. At ECIPE, his research focuses on Russia’s foreign policy dynamics, the influence of non-EU actors such as Russia and China on Southeastern Europe, the EU integration of the Western Balkans, and the economic and political development of the entire Western Balkan region. He holds a PhD in East European Studies and a master’s in Advanced International Studies. At the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), he regularly drafts comprehensive macroeconomic analyses and policy forecast reports, assessing economic trends and policy impacts in the Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) region. At S&P Global, he crafts analytical pieces on political risk-inducing events in the CESEE region, including policy changes and protest risks. He also monitors the outcomes of national and regional elections in the Western Balkans, while drafting country reports that evaluate political and governmental stability within the CESEE region. Bernd worked on numerous publications and different projects, including in-depth analyses of Chinese infrastructure investments in the Western Balkans for the European Parliament, a thorough cohesion policy study on Germany for the European Commission, or a study on free trade policy recommendations for the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). He teaches as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, where he holds interdisciplinary lectures and seminars. His lectures and seminars cover the evolution of the international system, the political and economic situation in the Western Balkans, and the geopolitical and geoeconomic influences of China and Russia on the region, as well as the evolution of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy dynamics.