Academic Centers for Eastern and Russian Studies in the United States in the Context of the Role of the Centre for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ajl.2740Keywords:
East Europe, East European studies, academic centers, Sovietology, WWIII threatAbstract
Purpose: This paper aims to highlight the significance of the SEW UW - Centre of East European Studies in the context of the pivotal academic hubs for Eastern studies in the United States. The article also provides a comprehensive review of United States academic institutions with Eastern and Russian Studies.
Materials and Methods: The article adopted inductive reasoning. The concept of the study was to bring a general notion that represents important aspects of the Sovietological expertise in academia, both in North America and in Central Europe. Such a research goal is intriguing and important in light of the Kremlin's ambition to restore the former empire within the borders of the Soviet Union. There are tangible changes in international law and international relations already, including contemporary rapid expansion of NATO, and highlighting the importance of accession to the Alliance in the nineties for Central European countries from the former Soviet sphere of influence.
Findings: The inductive reasoning shows patterns of regularity and a broad scope of research on analyzed topics. It also demonstrates the importance of the field of study and the expertise at the University of Warsaw.
Unique Contribution to theory practice and policy: The study aims to contribute to theory, practice, and policy regarding current rapid developments in international law and international relations. It is connected with the increasing threats of potential World War III1.
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NATO must be ready for 2-front conflict with Russia and China, top US commander in Europe says
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March 12, 1999: Accession of Czechia, Hungary and Poland, bringing the Alliance to 19 members
NATO invites Finland, Sweden to join, says Russia is a “direct threat”
Excerpt from the speech of the President of Poland in Georgia on August 12, 2008, in the presence of the President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, the President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, Ivars Godmanis. https://www.president.pl/archive/news-archive-2000-2010/news-2008/president-of-rp-sets-off-to-visit-georgia,37405
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NATO Still Divides, New York Times, March 16, 1999, selecting letters with specific opinions, including the following, shows the political position of the NYT regarding NATO expansion and the President of the Republic of Poland's judgment on it. Editorials/Letters: Re ''3 Fragments of Soviet Realm Joining NATO's Ranks Today'' (front page, March 12): President Aleksandr Kwasniewski of Poland is cited as saying that NATO enlargement brings an end to a divided Europe. How could that be when Russia, Europe's largest country, is excluded? Anti-Russian analysts are quick to overlook the fact that Russia had inquired about membership in the alliance before Poland. How would the Poles feel if Russia were to join NATO and Poland were left out? Michael Averko, Malverne Park, N.Y., March 12, 1999
Lecture entitled Poland’s Path to NATO – from the Perspective of the Polish Ambassador to Washington, delivered on October 2, 2019, during the ceremonial inauguration of the academic year at the Warsaw School of Economics. Speech has a paper written version published by the Warsaw School of Commerce, Polish Road to NATO, on October 17, 2019
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Biden entered politics in 1970, running his first successful political campaign for the New Castle County Council in Delaware. He won by a very small margin, i.e. by a difference of two thousand ballots. It turned out that these were the votes of Americans of Polish origin from the polling station at the parish of St. Jadwiga (St. Hedwig) in the Polish district of Hedgeville in Wilmington - the largest city of Delaware. They were counted and forwarded to the election commission last. Both candidate Joe Biden and his campaign team were eagerly awaiting these results. The former president of the United States mentions two thousand votes of Polish voters in his autobiographical book "Promises to Keep”. See more: Joe Biden, Promises to Keep. On life and Politics, (Random House, New York, 2007).
Biden in “Promises to Keep” “I made sure to make time in the schedule to drive over to the Democratic meeting places like the Polish Library to show the bosses there that I understood their neighborhoods; that Hedgeville and Browntown were just like Green Ridge in Scranton. It was easy to demonstrate that I felt at home at Mass at Saint Hedwig’s and Saint Elizabeth’s and that my family knew what it was to work for a living. When the esteemed boss of those Polish neighborhoods introduced me around like I was a member of the family “I likeably,” they’d say I knew that was good”. See more: Joe Biden, Promises to Keep. On life and Politics, (Random House, New York, 2007).
Cross sectional data collection in the scientific method: surveys. Face-to-face interviews conducted in Wilmington, DE in 2023 and 2024, content analysis, and secondary analysis of existing data.
Based Face-to face recorded interviews conducted during multiple research visits in Delaware in the span of 2023-2024
Poland, along with Czechia and Hungary, became a NATO member on March 12, 1999. Prime Minister of Poland delivered Poland's first address to the North Atlantic Council as a NATO member. It reflects the spirit of the efforts of Polish Americans from Delaware:
"After years of struggling for independence and sovereignty, the Polish people formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Let me assure you that we take responsibility for the security of each NATO member and for the interest of the entire alliance. Under those flags, waving in the wind, allow me to say: you can count on us. You can count on Poland.
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The Association represents American scholarship in the field of Russia, Central Eurasian, Central and East European studies. Representatives of the AAASS sit on such bodies as the US State Department’s Advisory Committee on the Soviet/East European Research and Training Act (1983), and the International Congress for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES). It is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies. The State of Russian Studies in the United States: 2022. An Assessment by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies ASEES, August 2023
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The University of Wisconsin System serves approximately 165,000 students
Ivy League schools are considered the most sought-after institutions of higher learning in the United States and in the world. It consist of eight private Northeastern schools (Princeton University Princeton, NJ, Harvard University Cambridge, MA, Yale University New Haven, CT, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA , Cornell University Ithaka, NY, Brown University Providence, NH, Columbia University New York, NY, Dartmouth College Hanover, NH) which are known for their highly selective admissions process, academic excellence and promising career opportunities.
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https://complit.cornell.edu/eastern-european-and-russian-studies
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https://harriman.columbia.edu/research-regions/ecec/
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https://creeca.wisc.edu. The Center, on its website, strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: The Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia (CREECA) condemns Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and inhumane invasion of Ukraine. There is no justification for Russia to conduct military actions in Ukraine, and all purported rationales for this onslaught on a peaceful and democratic country that poses no threat to Russia are falsifications and distortions of reality and of history. The Putin regime must immediately stop all hostilities and withdraw its troops. The world must unify to stop this purposeless aggression, which is producing untold misery, death, and destruction. We echo the sentiments expressed by former UW System President Tommy Thompson in his statement of March 1: our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine as they fight against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of their homeland. Unprovoked attacks on another country’s sovereignty violate basic human norms, as well as the core values espoused by universities such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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https://humanities.uoregon.edu/reees (one of the oldest programs of its kind on the West Coast)
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https://reeec.illinois.edu (REEEC receives major support for programming and FLAS fellowships through the U.S. Department of Education through its Title VI program, for which REEEC serves as a designated National Resource Center)
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https://crees.ku.edu. The University of Kansas is advertising its program as "a national leader for the study of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe since 1959".
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John D. Rockefeller established the Rockefeller Foundation in 1913. Its primary goal was to use science and technology to "solve humanity's toughest problems."
Approximately 10 students per year
Kathryn w. And Shelby Cullom Davis center for Russian and Furasian studies
A foundation established in New York in 1911 by Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), one of the wealthiest and most famous industrialists of his day, to promote “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding.”
Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and subsequently served as head of state, beginning in 1988. He served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990. Eventually, he served as President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991.
More historic development of Davis Center at https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/about/history
https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/about/history
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https://reees.princeton.edu/about
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The ASEEES convention takes place each year in a different city. In upcoming years, the Association will hold its convention in the following cities: 2025: Thu, November 20 – Sun, November 23, Washington, DC, Washington Hilton. 2026: Thu, November 12 – Sun, November 15, Chicago, Palmer House Hilton. 2027: Thu, November 18 – Sun, November 21, San Francisco, San Francisco Marriott Marquis. 2028: Thu, November 30 – Sun, December 3, Pittsburgh, David Lawrence Convention Center, The Westin Pittsburgh, and the Omni William Penn
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https://weec.uw.edu.pl/warsaw-east-european-review/
https://english.studium.uw.edu.pl/structure/centre-for-belarusian-studies/
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Incl. the Scholarship Program of the Government of the Republic of Poland for Young Scientists from Eastern countries
Eastern Review Award, Ivan Vyhovski Award, Lew Sapieha Award, Tytus Filipowicz Award, St. Gregory Peradze Award, IWKL Juliusz Bardach Award - established by the Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, The Jadwiga and Zbigniew Kruszewski Award
Each year, after completing a 6-week preparation course, scholarship recipients are assigned to appropriate studies at universities all over Poland. In order to integrate and acclimatize each new group of students, the Centre organizes an annual meeting of all the scholarship recipients in Białowieża.
The last St. Gregory Peradze’s 21st International Caucasus Conference took place in December 2024. The session "Caucasica Antiqua et Christiana" brought many valuable discoveries, including the research of Rev. Prof. Henryk Paprocki, which was a significant scientific finding.
https://english.studium.uw.edu.pl/conferences/about-weec/
The Centre had organized the following Bilateral Schools: Polish-Russian School (2007-2012 and 2014-2015) Polish-Ukrainian School (2008) Polish-Caucasian School (2008) Polish-Moldavian School (2008) Polish-Belarusian School (2008)
Director Jan Malicki’s reflections from the village of Lisowce in Podolia, where Prof. Adolf Juzwenko was born, are available at https://x.com/SEW_UW/status/1934677136427954285
https://www.ossolineum.pl/o-nas/dyrektorzy-znio/
Some of them with perpetual dates
NATO must be ready for 2-front conflict with Russia and China, top US commander in Europe says
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2025-07-17/nato-must-be-prepared-for-wars-18470191.html. Trump orders nuclear submarines moved after Russian 'provocative statements' https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-orders-nuclear-submarines-moved-after-russian-provocative-statements-2025-08-02/EU defense chief warns of 'most dangerous moment' – coordinated Russian-Chinese aggression by 2027 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/eu-defense-chief-warns-most-dangerous-moment-coordinated-russian-chinese-aggression-2027 https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/security/2025/july/top-us-commander-in-europe-nato-must-be-ready-for-two-front-conflict-with-russia-and-china
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Excerpt from The European Union's Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius' interview with reporters in Washington, D.C., July 21, 2025
Head of the Main Military Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR) general Kyrylo Budanov: It’s a philosophical paradox of Western diplomacy: praising values while refusing to defend them. When alliances become therapy groups — rather than defensive coalitions — they die not with a bang, but with a shrug. The EU and NATO were born in response to threats. If they now treat aggression with statements instead of actions, why should they even exist in 10 years? Interview conducted in Kiev on August 1, 2025, by Ukrainian TV journalist Nataliya Moseychuk. She was sentenced in absentia by Russia in 2024 for five years in prison.
https://history.as.uky.edu/users/pke235
https://history.princeton.edu/people/stephen-kotkin
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https://www.huri.harvard.edu/people/antony-polonsky
https://scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/profile/antony_polonsky/overview
Former Yale University scientist, and currently Chair in European Intellectual History
https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/person/marci-shore
Former Yale University scientist https://history.yale.edu/people/timothy-snyder, and since 2025 at University of
legacy-authoritarian-regimes
https://academics.siu.edu/humanities-social-sciences/history/faculty/weeks-theodore.php
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