The war on the Dniester, which experienced a phase of military operations between March and August 1992, tragically marked the birth of the state of the Republic of Moldova. Three decades later, resolving the conflict still seems far from a political solution. Reconstructing the facts and de-ideologizing the interpretation of the causes, essence, and consequences of the war remains a difficult task for historians and political scientists, who need additional expertise in various relevant fields such as international law, constitutionalism, geopolitics, strategic studies, security studies, or economic analysis. Unfortunately, sequential research and published memoirs remain partisan, with strong tendencies to provide founding myths to conflicting parties.

The Laboratory for Transnistrian Conflict Analysis (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu) and the Balkan History Association invite scholars from all ranks to submit abstracts on topics regarding: 1) the political and geopolitical causes of the war; 2) evaluations of documentary sources and partial analyses; 3) quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the combat forces: level of training; professionalism of the command structures; tactics, weapons, and equipment; 4) the specifics of the organization and action of the paramilitaries; 5) reconstitution of relevant military operations; 6) the interests of international actors and their political and military actions; 7) political/patriotic capitalization of the facts of war. We encourage applicants to propose their own criteria and use intensive interdisciplinary methodologies.

Submission procedure

Please submit your proposal, including the title of your manuscript, an abstract (up to 300 words) and an author biography (up to 100 words) to all editors. The abstracts should include the research question and purpose, the approach and main ideas, and results. No figures, tables, footnotes, or endnotes should be included in the abstract.

Publication

The volume will be published by Peter Lang (BHA Series “South-East European History”), and will comply with its editorial rules (Authors Peter Lang). Notes and bibliography will be written according to the recommendations of the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography Style (chicagomanualofstyle.org).

Deadlines

October 20, 2021: Submit proposals to editors
November 15, 2021: Notification of accepted proposals
May 25, 2022: Receipt of full studies for review
June 15, 2022: Revised studies re-submitted to editors
July 30, 2022: Approved studies delivered to publisher