War Through the Eyes of a Child: Lessons from Kosovo
The Gender, Peace & Security research group is exited to welcome Dr. Vjosa Musliu, author of Girlhood at War: Interpreting War and Liberation in Kosovo to the Swedish Defence University in celebration of International Working Women’s Day.
The public event will feature a presentation by Vjosa Musliu who will also read from her recently published book, followed by a conversation with Adea Gafuri (Associate Research Fellow at The Swedish Institute of International Affairs), Annette Lyth (Lecturer in the Department of International and Operational Law at SEDU) and Annick Wibben (Anna-Lindh Professor for Gender, Peace and Security at SEDU). The event will be introduced by H.E. Ambassador Shkëndije Geci Sherifi of Kosovo.
Register to attend
If you would like to join us for this important event, please register no later than March 3, 2026.
Coffee will be served from 14:30h, please arrive in due time to be seated.
A reception at the Embassy of Kosovo (invitation only) follows the event.
Girlhood at War is an autoethnographic account of growing up in Kosovo during war and its immediate aftermath following NATO’s intervention in 1999. Through the eyes of a teenage girl, the book captures the intimacies of war that are rarely captured in official histories yet dominate the experiences of those caught in wars. The book beautifully explores the nuances of identity, belonging, and survival that shape individual and collective memories of violent conflict and reverberate long after official war endings.
About Dr. Vjosa Musliu
Vjosa Musliu is Associate Professor of International Relations at Democratic Futures Research Group, Free University of Brussels, Belgium. Her research focuses on international and European interventions and statebuilding. Her area of focus is primarily the Balkans and post-Soviet space. She is a member of Yugoslawomen+ Collective, a collective of six academics from the post-Yugoslav space working in ‘Global North’ academia. She is the author of three books and dozens of journal articles in the field of international relations.