What's "In the Works" for Mietek Boduszynski?

Mieczyslaw (Mietek) Boduszyński is a 2016-2018 CPD Research Fellow and assistant professor of politics and international relations at Pomona College. Prior to joining Pomona, he was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer specializing in public diplomacy, with postings in Albania, Kosovo, Japan, Egypt and Libya. In 2015-16 he took leave from Pomona to serve as political counselor at the U.S. Consulate General in Basrah, Iraq, during the height of the battle against the Islamic State. Boduszyński is currently on sabbatical from Pomona College and works as a Resident Fellow at IAU College in Aix-en-Provence, France, and also teaches a course at Sciences Po Paris (Institute of Political Studies).

Boduszyński's CPD research fellowship project is titled, "U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Age of the Fortress Embassy: Balancing Mission and Security in the Post-Benghazi Era." His research examines how the proliferation of “Fortress Embassies,” that is, U.S. diplomatic compounds in war-zones or other high-risk environments, has affected public diplomacy, how PD practitioners deal with the resulting restrictions, and what could be done to improve the effectiveness of public diplomacy operations under these conditions. He is also interested in how Washington, D.C. politics have led to a “zero risk” attitude among bureaucrats making security policy for American diplomats.

Boduszyński is writing a book tentatively titled, "Full Circle: The International Context of the Arab Spring," which will describe and analyze how the outside world has responded to the momentous changes occurring in the Middle East and North Africa since 2011. Previously, he published a book on democratization in the Balkans.

Some recent publications include:

• “Is America Still a Champion of Democracy in the Trump Era?” The Hill, 21 December 2017.
• “Public Opinion and the Demise of U.S. Public Diplomacy in Libya,” CPD Blog, 14 December 2017.
• “American Diplomacy is not Dead,” The Hill, 14 December 2017.
• “Why Ukraine’s Future Could Look a Lot Like Moldova,” Foreign Affairs, 27 November 2017.
• “The Challenges of Building a Shared Iraqi Identity,” OpenDemocracy, 5 November 2017 (with Chris Lamont).
• “Russian Disinformation and U.S. Public Diplomacy,” CPD Blog, 1 November 2017 (with Philip Breeden). 
• “The Anti-Islamist Campaign and Arab Democracy,” OpenDemocracy, 27 October 2017.
• “How Polish populism explains the surge of Trump and nationalism,” The Hill, 1 August 2017.
• “Europe’s Libya Problem,” Foreign Affairs, 20 July 2017.
• “Islamophobia and U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Trump Era,” CPD Blog, 30 June 2017.
• "Hosni Mubarak is Free Again: What Does this Say About Egypt?" Washington Post/Monkey Cage, 28 March 2017.

To see a full list of Boduszyński's recent CPD blogs, click here.

About this series:

"In the Works" is CPD's periodic roundup of news from the international PD scholarly community. If you've taken up a new academic position, published a new work or recently embarked on a research project on a public diplomacy topic, let us know! All updates can be sent to cpd@usc.edu. Please be sure to use "In the Works" in the subject heading.