Marko Attila Hoare

Biography

Hoare is the son of the British translator Quintin Hoare and the Croatian journalist and historian Branka Magaš. In his early articles, he signed his name simply as 'Attila Hoare', but since 1999 his articles have been signed Marko Attila Hoare. He is a regular contributor to the Bosnian Institute, UK and other academic publications.

Hoare has been studying the history of the former Yugoslavia since 1993. In the summer of 1995, he acted as translator for the humanitarian aid convoy to the Bosnian town of Tuzla, organised by Workers' Aid for Bosnia, a movement of solidarity in support of the Bosnian people. His degrees in History are a BA (1994) (later converted to an MA) from the University of Cambridge and a MPhil (1997) and PhD from Yale University (2000).

In 1998–2001, he lived and worked in Belgrade, Serbia, and was resident there during the Kosovo War of 1999, and worked a war crimes investigator at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where he participated in the drafting of the indictment against Milošević. Subsequently Hoare was a research assistant at the Bosnian Institute in London (founded by his father Quintin), a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow and a research fellow of the History Faculty of the University of Cambridge, He has been Reader at Kingston University in London since 2006.

He was European Neighbourhood Section Director for the Henry Jackson Society. In 2012, he resigned from the HJS, saying it had become "an abrasively right-wing forum with an anti-Muslim tinge", and over significant differences with associate director Douglas Murray. He was also an advisory editor of Democratiya, and he is a member of the editorial board of Spirit of Bosnia, an international, interdisciplinary, bilingual, online journal. His blog, "Greater Surbiton", concentrates on international developments, and 'revisionists' of the recent history of the Balkans, such as Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. He is a signatory of the Euston Manifesto, and was formerly connected with the British website Harry's Place. He has written also for Prospect and Standpoint magazine. He is working on a history of modern Serbia.

Hoare was a childhood friend of Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour Party. In 2010, he appeared in Channel 4's TV docu-drama Miliband of Brothers, where he commented on his memories of Miliband and his brother David Miliband. In criticising the position of the Conservative London Major Boris Johnson, he has argued in favour of arming the opponents of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Books

Hoare's historical writing has focussed in particular on the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. How Bosnia Armed: The Birth and Rise of the Bosnian Army (London, Saqi, 2004) examines the history of the Bosnian Army and Bosnian internal politics in the 1990s. Genocide and Resistance in Hitler's Bosnia: The Partisans and the Chetniks, 1941–1943 (London, Oxford University Press, 2006) looks at the conflict between the Yugoslav Partisans and Chetniks in Bosnia during World War II. The History of Bosnia: From the Middle Ages to the Present Day (London, Saqi, 2007) focuses in particular on the history of national identity in Bosnia. The Bosnian Muslims in the Second World War: A History (London, C. Hurst & Co., 2013) looks at the role of the Bosnian Muslims in World War II.

Awards

Hoare is the recipient of the 2010 Congress of North America Bosniaks (CNAB) award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of history. The award is recognition for his lifelong dedication to presenting the historical truth and standing up against genocide denial.