Robert Austin

Professor, Teaching Stream
MK 128N
416-946-8942

Campus

Cross-Appointments

Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Fields of Study

Areas of Interest

  • Transitional Justice in Albania
  • Nations and state-building in the Balkans
  • Kosovo Democratization
  • Para-states in Europe

Biography

Robert C. Austin is a specialist on East Central and Southeastern Europe in historic and contemporary perspective. In the past, Austin was a Tirana-based correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; a Slovak-based correspondent with The Economist Group of Publications; and a news writer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto. Austin has written articles for The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Southeast European Times, Orbis, East European Politics and Societies and East European Quarterly along with numerous book chapters and several books. His most recent book is Royal Fraud: The Story of Albania’s First and Last King (2024). Prior to that, he published A History of Central Europe in 2021 and Making and Remaking the Balkans: Nations and States since 1878 in May 2019. At CEES (Centre for European and Eurasian Studies), he coordinates the Undergraduate and Graduate European Affairs Program, the Hellenic Studies Program and the Hungarian Studies Program.

Education

BA, Carleton University
MA, University of Toronto
PhD, University of Toronto

Administrative Service

Associate Director, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies