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WNPiSM Faculty structure

DEPARTMENT OF EASTERN STUDIES

Head of Department:

Professor Andrzej Wierzbicki

Research areas

The Department of Eastern Studies was established in 2019, drawing on the expertise and research achievements of faculty staff working in Eastern studies within the former Institutes of International Relations, Political Science, and European Studies. The Department continues political science research previously conducted primarily within the Eastern Studies Unit of the Institute of Political Science and the Inter-Institute Research Unit on Russia and the Post-Soviet States. This research examines political system transformation, political leadership and elites, ethnopolitics, geopolitics, international relations, foreign policy, and security in Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia, Belarus, and other post-Soviet states. The Department’s geographical scope also extends to Central Europe and the Balkans. Research areas include:

  • Political, socio-economic, and cultural change in post-Soviet states.
  • Leadership and ruling elites in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
  • Ethnopolitics, nationalism, and nation-building processes in the post-Soviet region and the Balkans.
  • The international identiThe international identities of states in Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans.ty of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans.
  • Geopolitical competition in the post-Soviet region and the Balkans.
  • Poland’s policy towards its eastern neighbours.
  • Russia in the international system.
  • Security issues in the post-Soviet region and the Balkans.

National Cooperation

The Department’s research achievements have been developed through cooperation with universities and research centres across Poland, including conferences, seminars, and joint publications. Initiatives organised by department staff have involved researchers from Jagiellonian University, the University of Lodz, the University of Gdańsk, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the University of Wrocław, the University of Białystok, and the Polish Academy of Sciences.

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