Bugajski, Janusz 1954-

views updated

BUGAJSKI, Janusz 1954-

PERSONAL: Born September 23, 1954, in Cheshire, England; son of Piotr (a teacher) and Jadwiga (Kawska) Bugajski. Education: University of Kent at Canterbury, B.A. (with honors), 1977; London School of Economics and Political Science, London, M.Phil., 1981. Politics: "Non-denominational." Religion: "Observer." Hobbies and other interests: Travel, reading, soccer.

ADDRESSES: Home—Washington, DC. Office—Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1800 K St. NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20006.

CAREER: BBC-TV, London, England, consultant, 1981-83; Radio Free Europe, Munich, Germany, senior research analyst, 1984-85; Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, DC, director of East European studies, 1986-93, director, 1993—. American University, adjunct lecturer, 1991; lecturer at Smithsonian Institution, Foreign Service Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, and U.S. universities; consultant to International Republican Institute, International Research and Exchanges Board, and U.S. Department of Defense.

MEMBER: American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from Earhart Foundation, 1988, and Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, 1989; leadership award, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1991; Nations in Turmoil was selected by Choice as one of the outstanding academic books of 1993.

WRITINGS:

Czechoslovakia: Charter 77's Decade of Dissent, Praeger (New York, NY), 1987.

(With Maxine Pollack) East European Fault Lines: Dissent, Opposition, and Social Activism, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1989.

Sandinista Communism and Rural Nicaragua, Praeger (New York, NY), 1990.

Fourth World Conflicts: Communism and Rural Societies, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1991.

Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1993, revised edition, 1995.

Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 1994, with a new postscript, 1995.

Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, M. E. Sharpe (Armonk, NY), 2001.

Toward an Understanding of Russia: New European Perspectives, Council on Foreign Relations Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Cold Peace: Russia's New Imperialism, Praeger (Westport, CT)/CSIS (Washington, DC), 2004.

(With Ilona Teleki) America's New Allies: Central-Eastern Europe and the Future of the Transatlantic Link, Rowman & Littlefield (Mahwah, NJ), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Private Eye.

SIDELIGHTS: Janusz Bugajski has written and edited many books about the politics of Eastern Europe. The complex and shifting nature of the political scene in that region make it a challenging subject, and Bugajski's books provide valuable reference material on it, according to numerous reviewers. Discussing Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe in Europe-Asia Studies, Karen Henderson identified its "great strength" as the author's "extremely systematic" approach. The book provides a thousand-year history of Eastern Europe; several chapters detailing conflicts between the Balkan nations, the former Soviet Union, the Yugoslav republics, Central Europe, and other neighboring regions; and separate chapters on cooperative or conflict-ridden relationships between various pairs or groups of countries. Henderson cautions that the book is "not always entirely satisfactory," mainly because of the mass of detail included and the rapidly-changing nature of political divisions and allegiances in the region. "The lingering impression is one of a region plagued by intractable problems of a labyrinthine complexity," commented Henderson. "Yet this is, perhaps, the most accurate portrait possible."

In Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, Bugajski attempts to clarify the history of political parties in Eastern Europe in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each country has its own overview and a discussion of the key issues it has faced, as well as a review of the main political events that have transpired there since the fall of Communist rule. "Excellent introductory and concluding essays focus on pluralism, democratization, and strategic significance," remarked J. Levy in a Choice review. Zachary T. Irwin, a contributor to Library Journal, declared that "this book serves a real need in current reference literature."

Bugajski told CA:"I wrote my first book at the age of nine. It was a spy story based on an amicable James Bond-type character. My father helped me to bind and cover it. Over the next few years, I added nearly a dozen novels, short stories, and long verses to my collection. For me, books were always much more than words or ideas; they were talismans and companions. I loved their individual feel and smell, their distinct covers and typefaces, the comforting thump of thick books closing, and the ripple of paper through my fingers.

"I started writing on Eastern Europe in the early 1980s, due as much to frustration with much of the current affairs literature as to personal interest and enthusiasm for the region. In addition to analysis and commentary, I periodically contributed to Private Eye, one of the leading satirical weeklies in London. I've had little opportunity for political satire since I left England in the mid-1980s, although I must say that this remains one of my favorite modes of written expression, one I look back on with enormous nostalgia.

"I consider myself very fortunate, in that my work and pleasure blend together each day. I am constantly thinking of the next article, essay, book, or research report. I probably write best under pressure: the pressure of events, deadlines, or demands, something for which my spell at Radio Free Europe trained me admirably. However, I am rarely satisfied with what I produce. There is so much more that could have been said, and there are so many other ways in which events could have been interpreted.

"My ambition, if I ever have the time, is to write a saga of political fiction, based around the fall of Communism and the rise of nationalism in Eastern Europe. I would then be able to develop some of the colorful characters I have met across the region and intertwine them in complex plots and conspiracies. Maybe when I retire."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

American Reference Books Annual, 1995, review of Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe, p. 327.

Bookwatch, June, 2005, review of Cold Peace: Russia's New Imperialism.

Canadian Slavonic Papers, September-December, 1995, Bohdan Harasymiw, review of Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties, p. 563.

Choice, February, 1995, review of Nations in Turmoil, p. 901; November, 2002, J. Levy, review of Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, p. 447; June, 2005, J. L. Nogee, review of Cold Peace, p. 1890.

Europe-Asia Studies, July, 1996, Karen Henderson, review of Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe, p. 854.

Library Journal, February 1, 1995, Thomas Karel, review of Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties, p. 66; October 1, 2002, Zachary T. Irwin, review of Political Parties of Eastern Europe: A Guide to Politics in the Post-Communist Era, p. 81.

New York Review of Books, February 10, 2005, Robert Cottrell, review of Cold Peace, p. 19.

Parameters: U.S. Army War College Quarterly, spring, 1995, review of Nations in Turmoil, p. 118.

Perspectives on Political Science, spring, 2005, Gifford D. Malone, review of Cold Peace, p. 110.

Reference & Research Book News, December, 1994, review of Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe, p. 6; February, 2005, review of Cold Peace, p. 44.

Slavic Review, summer, 1995, Andre Liebich, review of Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe, p. 543.

Slavonic and East European Review, July, 1996, Martyn Rady, review of Nations in Turmoil: Conflict and Cooperation in Eastern Europe, 2nd edition, p. 575.