GEOPOLITICS OF SVETOSAVLJE: Serbian national question in the historical span from baptized to natural Serbia
Деспотовић, Љубиша. 2025. Геополитика светосавља: српско национално питање у историјском распону од крштене до природне Србије. Београд: Институт за политичке студије; Нови Сад: Архив Војводине. ISBN 978-86-7419-410-2; 978-86-7419-410-2
“The Geopolitics of Svetosavlje: The Serbian National Question in the Historical Span from Baptism to Natural Serbia”, the second revised and supplemented edition of the Archives of Vojvodina and the Institute for Political Studies, is the result of decades of scientific work by Prof. Dr. Ljubiša Despotović and offers a deep and layered analysis of the Serbian national question through the prism of geopolitics, identity and religious heritage. The author gives the monograph a timeless dimension, combining methodological precision and academic seriousness with strong critical and innovative positions.
At the very beginning, the author deals with systemic autochauvinism among Serbs and the processes of disintegration of Serbian identity through three historical phases by imposing: the political ideology of Yugoslavism; the geopolitics of identity in socialism and the contemporary ideology of globalism. These phases are presented as crucial in the weakening of national consciousness and statehood, and the role of SVETA SAVLJE as a constitutive civilizational and spiritual element of the Serbian people is particularly emphasized. The book is structured in two parts. In the first part, titled BAPTIZED SERBIA, Professor Despotović introduces readers to significant historical moments in which the full greatness of Saint Sava is shown and confirms the syntagm saint-civilizer. The second part of the book is titled NATURAL SERBIA and represents the author’s aspiration to respond to the philological, identity, and religious-confessional aspects of the Serbian national question in the former Yugoslavia. A special place is occupied by the issue of language as a fundamental element in the formation of the nation, and he critically reviews historical processes such as the Illyrian movement, the Croatization of the Serbian language, and the emergence of “Bosnianism” as a political construct. The mechanisms of manipulation, propaganda and demystification of historical processes that have influenced Serbian national consciousness are highlighted.
The author also provides critical insight into the problem of globalization, migration and religious trends, viewing the Balkans as a space of geopolitical exploitation and then points out the dangers of religious privatization and secular exclusivism, advocating for an integrative approach in which SVETSASAVLJE represents a pillar of stability, openness and spiritual authenticity.
Finally, the work calls for a rational reexamination of the past for the sake of a stable and sovereign future. The Geopolitics of Svetsasavlje is a book that combines historical analysis, critical philosophy and national strategy, thus providing an important contribution to the scientific community in achieving one important goal, that Baptized Serbia and Natural Serbia, guided by the idea of the geopolitics of Svetsasavlje, finally unite in the future.
