W dniach 2-3 października 2008 roku odbyła się konferencja Revitalizing the U.S.-Central European Relationship, zorganizowana przez Center for European Policy Analysis oraz Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych.

Odbywająca się w dniach 2-3 października konferencja „Revitalizing the US-Central European Relationship” zorganizowana przez Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych (CSM) oraz Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) zgromadziła w Zamku Królewskim wielu gości zarówno z Polski jak i z zagranicy. Jej przebiegowi przysłuchiwali się zarówno analitycy, dyplomaci i politycy, jak i dziennikarze czy studenci.

Otwierając konferencję prezes CSM Eugeniusz Smolar nakreślił dylematy polskiej polityki zagranicznej. Mówił m.in. o tym, że Polska pragnie wzmacniać swoją pozycję w Unii Europejskiej, ale nie kosztem sojuszu ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi.

Mariusz Handzlik odczytał posłanie od Prezydenta RP, Pana Lecha Kaczyńskiego, w którym m.in. wyraził przekonanie, że po wojnie rosyjsko-gruzińskiej tylko włączenie Ukrainy i Gruzji do NATO i Unii Europejskiej może zapewnić  trwałe bezpieczeństwo w tej części naszego kontynentu.

Ambasador Stanów Zjednoczonych Victor Ashe zauważył, że bez względu na to, jakie siły polityczne wygrywają wybory w Polsce i w USA, stosunki pomiędzy naszymi krajami pozostają bardzo dobre, co dowodzi ich stabilności i trwałości.

Podczas pierwszego panelu konferencji uczestnicy zastanawiali się nad rolą Europy Środkowej w amerykańskiej polityce zagranicznej. Wess Mitchell z CEPA stwierdził, że w świetle ostatnich wydarzeń w Gruzji należałoby wzmocnić terytorialne siły szybkiego reagowania w tej części Europy i przenieść tu część infrastruktury NATO z zachodu kontynentu.

Profesor Charles Gati z Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies zgodził się z tym, że Stany Zjednoczone powinny wzmocnić bezpieczeństwo państw Europy Środkowej, ale zauważył, że w ostatnim czasie amerykańska administracja zaniedbywała ten region. Według niego powinna ona „zaprzestać" pouczania europejskich partnerów i z większą uwagą dobierać kadrę dyplomatyczną, która powinna być lepiej przygotowana do sprawowania swoich funkcjach. Nominaci polityczni na stanowiskach ambasadorów – a nie profesjonalni dyplomaci – nie zwiększają autorytetu USA w regionie.

Zamykający panel John Schlosser podkreślił, że obecnie polityka zagraniczna Stanów Zjednoczonych znajduje się pod wpływem wydarzeń w okresie zmian, dlatego już niebawem powinniśmy się spodziewać  jej reorientacji, także w odniesieniu do naszego regionu.
Po analizie stosunków politycznych pomiędzy Stanami Zjednoczonymi a Europą Środkową uczestnicy konferencji dokonali przeglądu stosunków gospodarczych. Zdaniem profesora Leszka Balcerowicza kraje Europy Środkowej tylko wtedy dogonią Zachód, jeśli konsekwentnie dokończą reform wolnorynkowych, zdołają ograniczyć wydatki socjalne i dług publiczny. Jednak jak zauważa Krzysztof Błędowski z National Economists Club, niezależnie od zaawansowania reform gospodarczych obroty Stanów Zjednoczonych z tą częścią Europy pozostaną niewielkie wobec kontaktów handlowych z takimi krajami jak Chiny, Japonia, a nawet Wietnam. Pocieszające jest jednak to, że przystąpienie państw Europy Środkowej do Unii Europejskiej nie wpłynęło na zmniejszenie wymiany handlowej pomiędzy USA a Polską, jak się obawiano – spointował Wiesław Szczuka z BRE Banku S.A.

Paul B. Dyck – wiceminister handlu USA oraz Roman Rewald z Polsko-Amerykańśkiej Inzby Handlowej zwracali natomiast uwagę na czynniki niesprzyjające rozwojowi stosunków handlowych, takie jak brak ułatwień dla prowadzenia biznesu, problem korupcji czy niedostatecznie rozwiniętej infrastruktury w Polsce.

Następna część konferencji poświęcona była problemom energetycznym w Europie Środkowej. Według F. Wallace’a Haysa z CEPA Stany Zjednoczone powinny w bardziej zdecydowany i skoordynowany sposób wspierać budowę niezależnych od Rosji gazociągów i ropociągów w Europie. W jego opinii takie państwa surowcowe jak Rosja, Iran czy Wenezuela zaczynają prowadzić coraz bardziej agresywną politykę na światowym rynku energii. Wtórował mu były Wiceminister Gospodarki Piotr Naimski, który określił rosyjskie działania jako motywowane przede wszystkim politycznie. Ekspansja Gazpromu ma bowiem według niego być środkiem służącym do odbudowy rosyjskiego imperium.

Tezę tę zdawał się potwierdzać także Alexandros Petersen z Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, który stwierdził, że kontrola transportu złóż gazu na Morzu Kaspijskim i Czarnym był główną przyczyną wojny rosyjsko-gruzińskiej. Brak reakcji Zachodu tłumaczył on europejskim uzależnieniem od dostaw surowców z Rosji i postulował jedność w ramach NATO w stosunkach z „gazowym OPEC”.

Rozpoczynając panel poświęcony instalacji amerykańskiej tarczy antyrakietowej w Europie Środkowej Wade Boese z Arms Control Association zaznaczył, że nie tylko w Polsce czy Czechach ma ona swoich przeciwników. Sceptycznych wobec niej jest także wielu amerykańskich kongresmenów przede wszystkim poddających w wątpliwość jej skuteczność. O ile sama idea instalacji wydaje im się słuszna, o tyle uważają, że tak droga inwestycja nie jest wskazana w momencie, gdy instalacja nie przeszła odpowiedniej liczby testów. Gdy system obrony przeciwrakietowej w USA został przetestowany, rakiety mające być zainstalowane w Polsce jeszcze nie istnieją, toteż nieznana jest ich skuteczność.

Polski kontekst instalacji tarczy antyrakietowej był przedmiotem wystąpienia dwóch kolejnych uczestników konferencji. Doktor Olaf Osica z Centrum Europejskiego Natolin stwierdził, że przebieg polsko-amerykańskich negocjacji w sprawie tarczy świadczy o tym, że oba kraje inaczej postrzegają kwestie bezpieczeństwa, a ich pozytywny finał to raczej oznaka pojawienia się zagrożenia w obliczu konfliktu w Gruzji i konieczności co najmniej symbolicznego wzmocnienia własnego bezpieczeństwa przez związanie się z USA. Tymczasem według profesora Zbigniewa Lewickiego z Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego długość rozmów wynikała z ukrywania przez obie strony własnych oczekiwań i intencji. Jego zdaniem nie jest to zachowanie, które powinno charakteryzować bliskich sojuszników. Publiczne deklarowanie „twardości” w rozmowach z sojusznikiem amerykańskim nie przyniosło pozytywnych skutków a tylko utrudniało osiągnięcie porozumienia, które jest w interesie Polski.

Do polsko-amerykańskiego sojuszu odwoływał się także Peter Podbielski z CEPA. Powiedział, że jedynie dalsza modernizacja polskiej armii może poprawić jakość współpracy wojskowej ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi.

Ostatnia dyskusja konferencji poświęcona była przyszłości amerykańsko-środkowoeuropejskich stosunków po zmianie warty w Białym Domu. Według korespondenta „Gazety Wyborczej” w Waszyngtonie Marcina Bosackiego Barack Obama i John McCain nie różnią się zbytnio w kwestii polityki zagranicznej, choć są zupełnie inaczej odbierani przez opinię publiczną.

Nie zgodził się z tym bliski Demokratom Charles A. Kupchan z Council on Foreign Relations. Jego zdaniem kandydaci mają odmienne stanowiska w zasadniczych kwestiach, ale bez względu na to, który z nich wygra wybory relacje Polski ze Stanami Zjednoczonymi pozostaną dobre. Stwierdził, że Polska będzie tym użyteczniejszym partnerem dla USA, im bardziej będzie przyczyniała się do wzmocnienia jedności Europy. Nie dojdzie do zerwania z Rosją na tle wojny w Gruzji. Gruzja i Ukraina nie mają żadnych szans na włączenie w struktury NATO.

W podobnym duchu wypowiadał się bliski Republikanom John C. Hulman z German Council on Foreign Relations. W jego opinii Ameryka samotnie nie jest w stanie poradzić sobie z takimi kwestiami jak gospodarka, Afganistan czy Iran, dlatego potrzebuje wsparcia Europy i współpracy z Rosją. Odnosząc się do polityki zagranicznej przyszłego prezydenta Stanów Zjednoczonych stwierdził, że entuzjastycznie ustosunkowujący się do Obamy Europejczycy powinni zdać sobie sprawę z tego, że jego większa otwartość na partnerów będzie się łączyła z większymi oczekiwaniami, że wezmą większą odpowiedzialnością na swoje barki.

Przygotowała: Ewa Dryjańska

Paneliści:

H.E. Victor Ashe
United States Ambassador to Poland
Victor Ashe was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Ambassador to the Republic of Poland on April 8, 2004, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 21, 2004. He was sworn in on June 23, 2004, in Washington, D.C. Amb. Ashe is the most
senior American bilateral Ambassador serving in Europe today.
Amb. Ashe’s history of public service includes serving 31 years in Tennessee state and city elective offices. In December 2003, Amb. Ashe completed an unprecedented 16 years as Mayor of Knoxville, the longest mayoral tenure in the city’s 216-year history.
Amb. Ashe graduated from the Hotchkiss School, in Lakeville, Connecticut, in 1963 and from Yale University with a BA in History in 1967. He received his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1974. He is an attorney and licensed
to practice law in Tennessee.
In 1965, Amb. Ashe served as an intern in the office of Congressman Bill Brock, where he helped write a tax sharing for education bill. In 1967, he was a staff assistant in the Office of then-Senator Howard Baker.
Amb. Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1968, at age 23. In 1975 he was elected to the State Senate, where he served for nine years. From1967 to 1973, Amb. Ashe served as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Reserves.
From 1985-1987, under President Reagan, Mr. Ashe served as the Executive Director of the Americans Outdoors Commission chaired by then-Governor (and now U.S. Senator) Lamar Alexander. Amb. Ashe was elected Knoxville’s mayor in November 1987.
As Mayor of Knoxville, he established a sister city relationship with Chelm in Poland and led two delegations to the city, one in 1997 and the other in 2000. Amb. Ashe also led a delegation of U.S. mayors to Israel in 1995 and to Uganda in 2003 on HIV/AIDS.
Amb. Ashe improved Knoxville’s financial picture by increasing the fund balance and improving the bond rating for the city. Greenways were substantially increased from 5 to 34 miles when he left office. He led the effort for waterfront development in his city and built a new state-of-the-art convention center to boost tourism. Amb. Ashe established a police civilian review board, and in January 2004 he received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission’s chair award for his work on behalf of improving race relations.
He also made historic preservation a theme of his tenure.
Amb. Ashe was awarded on October 14, 2004 the Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medal at the local level. This award, from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in association with the National Park Foundation, was given in recognition of his work on parks and greenways while he was Mayor of Knoxville.
In 1995, Amb. Ashe was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He received the Distinguished Public Service Award in 2003. He also served as President of the Tennessee Municipal League. As a leader in both organizations, he led a bipartisan effort to curb unfunded federal mandates.
He was appointed by both Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.
President Clinton nominated Amb. Ashe to the AmeriCorps Board of Directors
and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment.
Amb. Ashe was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Board of Directors of Fannie Mae in 2001 where he served to May 24, 2004.

Leszek Balcerowicz
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Central Bank Governor of Poland
In 1970 Dr. Leszek Balcerowicz graduated with distinction from the Foreign Trade faculty of the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw (now the Warsaw School of Economics). Balcerowicz received his doctorate from the Warsaw School of Economics in 1975 and an MBA from St. John’s University in New York in 1974.
He attended the University of Sussex (1985) and University of Marburg. In 1992 he became a professor at the Warsaw School of Economics and a year later a director of the Department of International Comparative Studies. Balcerowicz has lectured at universities in Austria, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Japan, the Czech Republic, India, Italy, Ukraine, Latvia, and the United States. He is the author of numerous books and articles on a range of economic issues.
From September 1980 to August 1991 and also between October 31, 1997 and June 8, 2000 he held the positions of the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland. Between 1995 and 2000 he was the chairman of Freedom Union, then a centrist political party. On December 22, 2000, he became the Chairman of the National Bank of Poland. He completed his tenure in January 2007.
On November 11, 2005, the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, awarded Balcerowicz with the country’s highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle, for his contribution to Poland’s economic transformation.

Krzysztof Błędowski
Economist and Council Director, Manufacturers Alliance, and President, National Economist Club
Dr. Krzysztof Błędowski is the President of the National Economists Club in Washington, D.C. He also works as an economist with the Manufacturers Alliance, where he serves as the Director of the Council of Quality, a network of top industry professionals who specialize in product and process quality management in transnational companies.
Błędowski holds a Ph.D. degree in economics from the Polish University in London. He received his M.A. degree in economics from the Boston College and from the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.
Błędowski previously worked as a Senior Economist for the International Monetary Fund and as an Economic Consultant and Chief Economist/Strategist for the Commerzbank Central Europe/Wood & Co. Additionally, he served as the Chief Economic Advisor for the Pioneer First Polish Trust and as the Senior Economist for the Cahners Publishing.
Błędowski authored numerous reports, articles, and book chapters with particular expertise on the Polish and Eastern European economies.

Wade Boese
Research Director, Arms Control Association
Wade Boese is the Research Director at the Arms Control Association since 2002. He is specifically responsible for monitoring, reporting on, and analyzing missile proliferation, missile defenses, strategic arms control agreements and negotiations, export control regimes, the global arms trade, and conventional arms control agreements.
Boese writes regularly for Arms Control Today, prepares ACA fact sheets, and maintains contact with the press and public on these issues.
His work has been published in The American Prospect Online, Jane's Intelligence Review, Defense News, The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Times, and Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. He also contributed a book chapter to Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Debunking the Myths and Exposing the Risks of Arms Export Reform.

Marcin Bosacki
Chief U.S. Correspondent, Gazeta Wyborcza
Marcin Bosacki is the chief U.S. correspondent for Gazeta Wyborcza, the largest Polish daily newspaper. Since joining the paper in 1991 as a reporter for the local edition in Poznan, he has served as editor in the home desk, deputy foreign editor, and most recently as foreign editor from 2000-2007. 
From 1985-1990, Bosacki was an activist involved with the underground anti-communist youth organizations School Groups of Social Resistance (SKOS) and Independent Student's Association (NZS) in Poznań. During this period, he edited numerous underground newspapers.
Bosacki graduated from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 1994 with an MA in history. He was honored by the Polish Association of Journalists (SDP) in 1996.

Matthew Bryza
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. State Department
Matthew J. Bryza assumed his duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in June 2005. In this capacity, he is responsible for policy oversight and management of relations with countries in the Caucasus and Southern Europe. He also leads U.S. efforts to advance peaceful settlements of the separatist conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Additionally, Mr. Bryza coordinates U.S. energy policy in the regions surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas. He also works with European countries on issues of tolerance, social integration, and Islam.
In April 2001, Mr. Bryza joined the National Security Council as Director for Europe and Eurasia, with responsibility for coordinating U.S. policy on Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Caspian energy.
Mr. Bryza served as the deputy to the Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State on Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy from July 1998 to March 2001. In this capacity, Mr. Bryza coordinated the U.S. Government’s inter-agency effort to develop a network of oil and gas pipelines in the Caspian region.
During 1997-1998, Mr. Bryza was special advisor to Ambassador Richard Morningstar, coordinating U.S. Government assistance programs on economic reform in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Mr. Bryza served at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during 1995-1997, first as special assistant to Ambassador Thomas Pickering, then as a political officer covering the Russian Duma, the Communist Party, and the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus.
He worked on European and Russian affairs at the State Department during 1991-1995.
Mr. Bryza served in Poland in 1989-1991 at the U.S. Consulate in Poznan and the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, where he covered the "Solidarity" movement, reform of Poland’s security services, and regional politics.
He joined the United States Foreign Service in August, 1988.
Mr. Bryza graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations. He received his master’s degree in the same field from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Paul Dyck
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe, U.S. Department of Commerce
Paul B. Dyck was appointed to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe at the U.S. Department of Commerce by the George W. Bush Administration in June 2006. Mr. Dyck is responsible for directing the Department’s efforts to open markets and ensure fair treatment for American exporters in 50 countries, including all of Europe, Russia, and Eurasia. He is also responsible for developing strategies and programs to enhance the United States’ commercial position in the region and engaging with foreign government officials to resolve commercial disputes.
Before joining the Department of Commerce, Mr. Dyck served at the U.S. Department of State as senior advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In this position, Mr. Dyck helped coordinate the Secretary’s strategic planning efforts and transformational diplomacy agenda. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Dyck served in the White House Office of Political Affairs under President Bush. As Associate White House Political Director, he was responsible for managing the President’s domestic political and policy priorities for the southern states.
Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., Mr. Dyck worked on then-Governor Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign in Austin, Texas. From 1998 to 2000, he worked for the Texas Workforce Commission, focusing on federal budgetary and legislative issues relating to state workforce development. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Dyck served in several capacities for the Texas House of Representatives, including legislative director for State Representative Jim Keffer.
Mr. Dyck received a master’s degree from the University of London and a bachelor’s degree from Austin College in Sherman, Texas.

Charles Gati
Senior Adjunct Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies, John Hopkins University - SAIS
Dr. Charles Gati is the Senior Adjunct Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies and the Foreign Policy Institute Fellow at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C.
He is an expert in the field of the European Union and Transatlantic Relations as well as in issues connected to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). His regional specialization includes Easter Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Union region.
Gati is the former Senior Policy Adviser with the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. Department of State. He previously worked as the Professor of Political Science at Union College and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University's Research Institute on International Change. Gati led the American delegation to the first U.S.-Soviet conference on "The Place and Role of Eastern Europe in the Relaxation of Tensions between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.," which was held in Alexandria, Virginia, in July 1988.
He received his Ph.D. degree in International Relations from the Indiana University.
He is the author of the “Failed Illusions: Moscow, Washington, Budapest and the 1956 Hungarian Revolt” (2006); “The Bloc That Failed” (1990); “Hungary and the Soviet Bloc” (1986). He additionally co-authored, edited, co-edited and contributed for 16 other volumes. Gati is the author of dozens of articles in Foreign Affairs and other professional journals and of op-eds in leading newspapers in the United States and abroad. His two books, the Failed Illusions and Hungary and the Soviet Bloc, received the Marshall Shulman Prize for outstanding book on the international relations of the former Soviet bloc.

F. Wallace Hays
Senior Adjunct Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis
F. Wallace Hays leads FWH and Associates LLC, a non-partisan consulting firm specializing in international energy issues. He has over sixteen years of experience in foreign policy, international relations, and political and economic risk assessments, and has provided intelligence analysis and political risk assessments on American foreign policy issues to a variety of clients, including foreign governments in Europe and the Middle East, as well as several major energy companies.
The primary focus of Hays’ work is energy and the environment, as well as international trade and investment, specializing in the Middle East, the post-Soviet states, and Central and Eastern Europe.
His recent projects include strategic advising for a major multinational corporation building a pipeline in the Caspian Sea region; providing analysis for a private investor exploring the political risks of investment in Middle Eastern markets; and advising a consortium working on social and environmental issues in Central Asia.
Formerly, Hays was the senior associate at Andreae, Vick & Associates, an international consulting firm, where he focused on U.S. international economic policy with special emphasis on the Middle East, Asia, and the former Soviet Union.
Since 1995, Hays has provided international companies and foreign governments with political counsel regarding American policies to Iran and Iraq and has authored papers on the U.S. Congress and its views of the Caspian Sea region as well as analyses of the political risk to non-American companies investing in Iran.
Prior to joining the private sector, Hays spent seven years working in the U.S. Congress, serving as a staff assistant in the House of Representatives for Congressman Lee Hamilton. Hays served in a number of positions on Congressman Hamilton’s personal staff and on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which Mr. Hamilton chaired.
Hays has been a guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins University and has published articles and made numerous presentations on Caspian energy issues and U.S. foreign policy priorities.

John C. Hulsman
Resident Scholar, German Council on Foreign Relations
Dr. John C. Hulsman is the Alfred von Oppenheim Scholar in Residence at the German
Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, where he handles the transatlantic and Middle East portfolio. Hulsman is the face of the Council on all aspects of transatlantic relations, having given the inaugural speech for the von Oppenheim Center on, 'A New Way Forward for Transatlantic Relations toward the Greater Middle East.' His expertise is particularly centeredon forging common transatlantic polices regarding Iran, Iraq, the War on Terror, and the Middle East Peace Process.
Having given over 1250 interviews, Hulsman is a frequent commentator on foreign policy issues. He makes regular appearances with major media outlets such as ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, Comedy Central and the BBC. He also has written over 150 published articles on international relations for publications such as The Financial Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Policy Review, Newsweek, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Die Welt and Le Monde. In addition, Hulsman serves as acontributing editor for the prestigious foreign policy journal, The National Interest. But he is far more than merely a distant commentator on global affairs. Having led 'The Hulsman Commission,' an important Track II effort to reach a common German-American position on the Iranian nuclear crisis, involving senior American and German parliamentarians and decision-makers, he has a real-world impact on the issues that he covers. In addition he has given 927 high-level briefings at the invitation of the U.S. Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, the House International Relations Committee, and governments around the world. His expertise has led him to serve on a Council on Foreign Relations Task Force designed to assess the transatlantic schism as well as a recent Council of Foreign Relations Task Force on how to manage the situation in
Iraq.
Prior to his tenure at the National Interest, Hulsman was a Senior Research Fellow in International Relations at the Heritage Foundation. Earlier, he was a fellow in European studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. He has taught European Security Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and world politics and U.S. foreign policy at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He has delivered more than 260 speeches and papers at conferences sponsored by Harvard, Yale, Stanford, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the French Army War College, the Aspen Institute, the German Marshall Fund, the European Parliament, NATO, and the Department of State.
Hulsman has traveled extensively, and lived in Scotland for seven years while earning his doctorate and master's degrees in modern history and international relations from the University of St. Andrews. While at St. Andrews, Hulsman debated at the international level,winning the St. Andrews Union Debating Championship.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Hulsman recently finished his third book, Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World, a work that he coauthored with Anatol Lieven, and published by Pantheon Press in September of 2006. Lauded by experts as far afield as Seymour Hersh, Gary Hart, and Brent Scowcroft, the book advocates a return to the philosophy of ethical realism, embraced by such giants as Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisnehower. In addition, unlike so many books critical of today's foreign policy, it provides a set of concrete proposals for tackling the specific problems we face today, including the terrorist threat, Iran, Russia, the Middle East, and China. Following very positive reviews in The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Spectator, The Washington Post lauded the book as 'most likely to win the George Kennan sweepstakes,' proving itself of central worth to policymakers in the new era.

Charles A. Kupchan
Senior Fellow for Europe Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Charles A. Kupchan is Professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University.  He is also Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.  During 2006-2007, he held the Henry A. Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress and was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Kupchan was Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration.  Before joining the NSC, he worked in the U.S. Department of State on the Policy Planning Staff.  Prior to government service, he was an Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University.
He is the author of The End of the America Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (2002), Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (2001), Civic Engagement in the Atlantic Community (1999), Atlantic Security:  Contending Visions (1998), Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe (1995), The Vulnerability of Empire (1994), The Persian Gulf and the West (1987), and numerous articles on international and strategic affairs.
Kupchan received a B.A. from Harvard University and M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees from Oxford University.  He has served as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, Columbia University’s Institute for War and Peace Studies, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and the Centre d’Etude et de Recherches Internationales in Paris, and the Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo.

Zbigniew Lewicki
Professor, Institute of International Relations, Cardinal S. Wyszynski University
Dr. Zbigniew Lewicki is the director of the American Studies Center at the Warsaw University, where he is also an expert on Polish-US relations.
From 1990 until 1995, Lewicki served as the head of the North America Department at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is also a former scholar of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, ACLS, Huntington Library and the Winthertur Library.
Lewicki is the author of The Bang and the Whimper: Apocalypse and Entropy in American Literature. He authored several other books and numerous articles on American issues. Lewicki is presently writing the History of the American Civilization, which is scheduled for publication in 2009.

A. Wess Mitchell
Director of Research, Center for European Policy Analysis
A. Wess Mitchell is Co-Founder and Director of Research at the Center for European Policy Analysis, where he manages the Center’s analytical output and has led in the conceptual development of the institute from its inception.
The author of numerous publications, Mitchell is a regular contributor to leading U.S. and European newspapers and journals, including National Interest, Harper’s Magazine, American Interest, The Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Times, Internationale Politik, and Gazeta Wyborcza. His articles and interviews have been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Polish, German, Czech, Russian, Hungarian and Romanian. His first book, co-authored with John C. Hulsman, is being published by Princeton University Press in January 2009.
Mitchell’s interests include U.S.-Central European security relations, NATO and the European Union in U.S. foreign policy. He is the creator and Editor-in-Chief of Central Europe Digest – Washington’s only periodical exclusively dedicated to Central Europe. He is a member of the CEPA Board of Directors and the American Board of Directors of the Berlin-based Atlantische Initiative.
Prior to helping form CEPA, Mitchell was an analyst at the National Center for Policy Analysis and worked in the office of Texas Congressman Larry Combest. He holds a Master’s Degree in German and European Studies (International Relations/Comparative Politics) from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. At Georgetown, Mitchell was selected for the Presidential Management Fellowship and 2004 Hopper Award. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation.

Piotr Naimski
Former Deputy Minister of Economy
Dr. Piotr Naimski is currently the Vice-Rector of National Louis University in Nowy Sącz, and served until recently as Deputy Minister of Economy of Poland (2006-2007).  During his tenure in the Ministry he was given responsibility for Poland’s energy security programs.
Naimski also served as National security adviser to Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek (1999–2001), and as a Chief of State Security Office in the Prime Minister’s Jan Olszewski cabinet (1992). From 1992 –1996 he was a President of the Polish Atlantic Club. He took part in creation of Workers Defense Committee and was its member (1976–1981) and worked for “Solidarity’s” Center of Social Studies in Warsaw (1980–1981). In 1970s and 1980s, Naimski was an independent publisher of a number of underground magazines and books.
He lived in the United States and was a faculty member at New York University during 1981 – 1989.

Olaf Osica
Research Fellow, Natolin European Centre, Warsaw
Dr. Olaf Osica is a Research Fellow at the Natolin European Centre, where he works as an expert on international security, transatlantic relations, European security and defense policy.
He is also a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of European Union at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, and guest columnist of "Tygodnik Powszechny".
In 2007, he obtained his Ph.D. in Social and Political Science from the European University Institute in Florence In 2000, Osica graduated with MA in International Relations from Warsaw University (2000).
Oscia is a member of the "Transatlantic Network 2020" - a project established by the British Council. He is a participant of the "Programme des personalites d'avenir", Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of France.
From 1998 until 2002 Osica worked as a Research Fellow at the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, where he was a coordinator of the project "Transatlantic Partnership and Poland's Interests", sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the US. From 1996 until 1997, he was a recipient of the GFPS scholarship at the University of Gutenberg, Mainz, Germany.
Osica is the author of numerous articles and book chapters devoted to Poland's security policy, EU common security and defense policy, transatlantic relations; e.g. "Poland: A New European Atlanticist at a crossroads?", in: Old Europe, New Europe and the Transatlantic Security Agenda, K. Longhurst, M. Zaborowski (ed.), Routledge, 2005.

Alexandros Petersen
Southeast Europe Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Alexandros Petersen is a Southeast Europe scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, and an adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic International Studies Russia and Eurasia Program.
He is also policy adviser with ISS Group in Brussels, associate scholar at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, D.C., and vice president for global operations of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP). Previously, he served as program director of the Caspian Europe Center in Brussels, senior ACD researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, founder and vice president in charge of YPFP’s London branch, and deputy director of the Henry Jackson Society. In 2006, he was a visiting scholar at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. He has also provided research for the U.S. National Petroleum Council’s Geopolitics and Policy Task Group and research support for the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Russian-American Relations.
Petersen regularly provides analysis for publications such as The Economist, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Washington Times, Moscow Times, Kyiv Post, Turkish Daily News, and Georgia Today, among many others. He is also a frequent contributor to journals such as Europe’s World, Insight Turkey, and the Journal of International Security Affairs.
He received a B.A. in war studies with first class honors from King’s College London and an M.Sc. in international relations from the London School of Economics.

Peter Podbielski
Senior Associate Scholar, Center for European Policy Analysis
Mr. Podbielski served for 30 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a Colonel. He has extensive operational field work as a U.S. Army Foreign Area Officer specializing in Central and East European affairs. He continues to pursue his regional interests as a Senior Associate Scholar with Center for European Policy Analysis.
Colonel Podbielski worked in the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw during the period leading up to and following Poland’s choice of the F16 jet fighters.

Roman Rewald
Chairman, American Chamber of Commerce in Poland
Roman Rewald is the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland. Rewald is a US-qualified attorney and a partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges.
He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (UMK) with Master’s Degrees in both Public Administration and Law, and from the University of Detroit Law School with a Juris Doctor degree.
Since coming to Poland in 1991, he has acted as counsel in corporate, energy law and real estate matters. He has also extensive experience in foreign joint ventures, banking and real estate acquisitions in Poland. Prior to joining Weil Gotshal, Roman advised the World Bank on the legal issues of housing and mortgage finance in Poland, and the Polish Ministry of Finance on the banking system’s privatization. Rewald is a regular speaker at programs concerning foreign investment in Poland.

John K. Schlosser
Stonebridge International, Vice President and former U.S. State Department Official
Dr. John K. Schlosser is Vice President of Stonebridge and advises the firm's defense and high-tech clients. He is one of the U.S. Government’s former top experts on defense, security and strategic issues, served most recently as Director of the Office of Regional Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of South & Central Asian Affairs, where he was responsible for key foreign policy issues affecting the South and Central Asian region, including counter-terrorism, political-military and nonproliferation issues.
A career Foreign Service Officer, Schlosser served in numerous positions overseas and in Washington, including as Director of the Office of Export Control Cooperation and Sanctions at the Bureau of Nonproliferation, and as Chief of the Political-Military Unit in Warsaw where he helped shape security assistance and arms sales policies, including U.S. participation in fighter aircraft tender during the late 1990s. Schlosser is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and did his doctorate research at Stanford University.

Eugeniusz Smolar
President for the Center for International Relations
Eugeniusz Smolar is the President of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, Poland. He is a professional journalist and a media manager. His studies of Political Economy at Warsaw University were interrupted by imprisonment in 1968 as a result of participation in students’ protests in March and protests against the Warsaw Pact armies’ invasion of Czechoslovakia in August. Following his release from jail, Smolar immigrated to Sweden in 1970 and completed his studies at the Sociology Faculty at Uppsala University.
In 1975 Smolar joined the BBC World Service as a journalist working in the Polish Section, then in 1982 became its deputy director, and later on its director (1988-1997). He was active in helping the Workers’ Defense Committee (KOR) and other democratic opposition groups in Poland, later Solidarity Trade Union, as well as underground publications. He was co-founder of émigré political quarterly „Aneks” (1973-1990) and the Aneks Publishing House.
Following his return to Poland in 1997, Smolar became a member of the Management Board of Polskie Radio S.A. with responsibility for program agenda (1998-2002), and later became its Program Director.
He was co-organizer of the 25th anniversary celebrations of “Solidarity” Trade-Union (August 2005) and program director of the international conference “From Solidarność to Freedom”.
In October 2005, Smolar became the President of the Center for International Relations.

Wieslaw Szczuka
Chief Economist, BRE Bank S.A.
Dr. Wieslaw Szczuka is a Chief Economist at the BRE Bank. He is a graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics and holds a PhD in Economic Sciences. Szczuka worked in the Ministry of Finance, where in 2004-2005 he was Undersecretary of State. He co-organized the first foreign issuance of Polish Treasury bonds.
He was a member of the supervisory boards at Bank Handlowy in Warsaw, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and PZU S.A. For a brief period in 2005 Szczuka was the deputy of the head at the Commission for Banking Supervision.

Adam Szejnfeld
Deputy Minister, Polish Ministry of Economy
Mr. Adam Szejnfeld is the Secretary of State at Poland’s Ministry of Economy. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
In the 1980's, he was a social and trade union activist, interned for his involvement in the Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union “Solidarity”, and later helped organize Citizens' Committees. Following that, he became an entrepreneur and self-government activist.
From 1990 to 1998, Mr. Shejnfeld served as a Councilman and the Mayor of the City and District of Szamocin. He also held the following posts: Vice President of the Council of Voivodes and Mayors of the Pila Voivodship, Vice President of the Greater Poland Centre of Education and Self-Government Studies Association in Poznań.
In the years 1997-2005, he was a member of Sejm, the Polish Parliament, for its 3rd and 4th terms. He then served as the head of the Sejm’s Commission for the Economy, and as the Vice Chairman of the Sejm’s Commission for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. He also served as the Vice President of the Polish-Chinese Bilateral Group and as Chairman of the Polish-Indian Bilateral Group.
From 2005 to 2007, he was a member of Sejm for its 5th term. During that time he occupied the position of the Vice President of the Sejm’s Commission for the Economy, the Chairman of the Permanent Subcommission on the Promotion and Development of Tourism as well as the Chairman of the Bilateral Polish-Indonesian Group. He was also a member of the Labor Protection Council.
Mr. Szejnfeld is a member of many non-government organizations, including the Polish Reliable Business Association “Reliable Partner”, the Polish Business Council Club, the Pila Chamber of Commerce and the Chodzieski Economic Club. He is also member of the Polish Success Academy and of the Chapter of the “Teraz Polska” (Now Poland) competition.
He is interested in economic and commercial issues of the functioning of the State and society, as well as in the economy and in entrepreneurship.
Michael Wyganowski
Executive Director, Center for European Policy Analysis
Michael Wyganowski is the Executive Director of the Center for European Policy Analysis, where he manages the daily operations of the institute and its output from internal and external sources, leads its conceptual and strategic development, mission and areas of research, as well as is tasked with conducting original research and writing on current European affairs.
Wyganowski holds a Master's Degree in History from the Warsaw University. He has also studied at Stanford University, Oxford Universities and completed courses at the Polish Institute of International Relations and NATO's School at Oberamergau.
Prior to joining CEPA Wyganowski was an International Consultant working with the State Department and National Defense University. From 1990 to 2004 Wyganowski was a diplomat with the Polish Foreign Service. While in the diplomatic service he was posted twice to the Polish Embassy in Washington. In 1999 Wyganowski headed the Polish delegation to NATO's High Level Task Force on conventional arms control (CFE). He has an extensive knowledge and experience in issues pertaining to transatlantic relations, security, arms control and bilateral Polish-American relations.

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