This article aims to explore the larger context of the Balkan Studies field, focusing on approaches to »area studies« during the Cold War, as well as to the variety of problems that have plagued »area studies« since 1989. In fact, in the United States, Balkan Studies initially did not constitute as a separate area studies program; it had long been viewed as a subset of Eastern European Studies, an arrangement that has been undergoing a problematic and unfinished transition over the last two decades. Sketching the political underpinnings of this shift may help us grasp its implications for the state of Balkan studies in the United States.