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Prof. Patrick Vaughan

Prof. Patrick Vaughan

Patrick Vaughan is a professor at the Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora. He specializes in Cold War history and America's evolving global role in the early twenty-first century. He first came to Poland on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2000 and has subsequently received generous support from the Kosciuszko Foundation and the George Kennan Center/Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2003, his work on Zbigniew Brzezinski was awarded by the Polish Institute for Arts and Sciences and the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., as the top doctoral dissertation regarding Poland. In 2011, his strategic biography of Zbigniew Brzezinski was nominated for the Kazimierz Moczarski Historical Prize for one of the superior works in Polish contemporary history. Prof. Vaughan also teaches classes on Soviet and East European literature, the role of petroleum in the geopolitical contest in Eurasia, and science fiction as a political and social metaphor.

Academic interests: 

  • Cold War history
  • The History of Science Fiction
  • Political Rhetoric
  • The Geopolitics of the Petroleum Industry
  • Media and Politics

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Publications

2010, Zbigniew Brzezinski: A Political and Strategic Biography, Polish Translation by Bertlesmann Media, sp. Warsaw, Poland.

2013, Brzezinski, the Pope, and the ‘Plot’ to Free Poland, [in:] Zbig: The Strategy and Statecraft of Zbigniew Brzezinski, ed. Charles Gati, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

2009, Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Helsinki Final Act, [in:] The Crisis of Détente in Europe: From Helsinki to Gorbachev, 1975-1985, ed. Leopoldo Nuti, London: Routledge.

2009, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan, [in:] The Policy Makers: Shaping American Foreign Policy from 1947 to the Present, ed. Anna Kasten Nelson, Rowman & Littlefield.

2006, Poglądy Zbigniewa Brzezinskiego a przyczyny (“Zbigniew Brzezinski’s Views and Causes”), [in:] Europa i Stany Zjednoczone-nowe partnerstwo (“The United States and Europe: A New Partnership”), Krakow: Institute of Strategic Studies.

2021, “AMERIKA”: The Story Behind the American Television Series that Once Divided a Nation, Zeszyty Prasoznawcze, Vol. 64, No.4 (248), pp. 105-116.

2020, Between Two Ages: Zbigniew Brzezinski and the ‘Real’ Revolution, "European Journal of Transformation Studies", No. 1, Vol. 8, pp. 144-155.

2018, From Dreams to Disillusionment: A Socio-Cultural History of the American Space Program, "Ad Americam", No. 18, pp. 75-87 (co-author: Rafał Kuś).

1999, Beyond Benign Neglect: Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Polish Crisis of 1980, "The Polish Review", Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (1999), pp 3-28.

2011, Patrick Vaughan, From a Distinct Point of View, a review of Adam Michnik’s book In Search of Lost Meaning: The New Eastern Europe, University of California Press, New Eastern Europe.

2019, 15 June, “Zbigniew Brzeziński and the Real Revolution,” Seventh World Congress on Polish Studies, Annual Conference of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Gdansk, Poland.

2019, 9 March, “Breaking the State of ‘Anomie’: Zbigniew Brzeziński and the Charter 77 Movement in Czechoslovakia,” Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Rights, Anglo-American University and Norwich University, Prague, Czech Republic.

2018, 24 May, Twelfth Conference of Media Ethics: “Truthful Media – Honesty and Truth in the Media,” Krakow, Poland.

2017, 9 December, “Bill Peet and the Wonderful World of Disney,” Polish Academic Conference on the Disney Universe, Krakow, Poland.

2016, 21 May, “Transatlantic Relations: Setting the Scene,” Ten-Year Anniversary of the Transatlantic Studies Program, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2015, 8 July, “Poland and the Evolution of Transatlantic Security: A Twenty-Five-Year Perspective,” Transatlantic Studies, Fourteenth Annual Conference, Roosevelt Study Center, Middelburg, Netherlands.

2014, 27 November, “American Foreign Policy Since 1990: The Road Not Taken,” Security 2014, National Defense University, Warsaw, Poland.

2012, 26 October, “The 2012 Presidential Elections in the United States: Challenges and Expectations,” Institute of American Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2011, 8 November, “Zbigniew Brzeziński and Polish Martial Law, 1981-82,” “Trust, But Verify”: Confidence and Distrust from Détente to the End of the Cold War, German Historical Society – Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C., United States.

2010, 10, June, “America in the Age of Obama,” Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2009, 11 December, “What Kind of Détente? Brzezinski, Schmidt, and the Euromissiles Crisis,” The Euromissiles Crisis and the End of the Cold War, 1977-1987, Machiavelli Center for Cold War Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, Italy.

2007, 30 October, “The Future of NATO,” Euro-Atlantic Security Forum, Krakow, Poland.

2005, 15 June, “The Carter Administration and Human Rights,” Annual Conference of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

2006, 27 September, “Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Carter Approach to China: “The United States Has Made Up Its Mind,'” United States Department of State, Washington, D.C., United States.

2006, 29 April, “Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Helsinki Final Act,” From Helsinki to Gorbachev: The Globalization of the Bipolar Confrontation, Cold War International History Project, Artimino, Italy.

2000, 22 June, “The Success of Peaceful Engagement: Zbigniew Brzezinski and Eastern Europe: 1956-1989,” Annual Meeting, SHAFR – The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Toronto, Canada.

2000, 18 June, “Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Polish Crisis, 1980,” Annual Conference of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, New York, USA.

2017, 5-8 December, Event Host and Keynote Speaker, “The Meaning of Leadership,” NATO HFM 286 Leaders Development for NATO Multinational Operations Workshop, tasked by the NATO Science and Technology Office.

2017, 8 July, “The Justice League: The Superhero as Social and Political Metaphor,” Massolit Books, Kraków, Poland.

2017, 8 May, “Chicago: My Kind of Sports Town,” Students’ Academic Conference, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2016, 5 November, “Culture and Politics in the Age of Manufactured Anxiety,” Massolit Books, Krakow, Poland.

2016, 20 September, “Making the Case for NATO Expansion, 1990-1995,” Anglo-American University, Prague, Czech Republic.

2016, 2 June, “Clinton vs. Trump: The American Election, 2016,” Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2015, 13 April, guest lecture: “The Case for Universal Conscription,” Cross-Cultural Competence for CSDP Missions and Operations, National Defense University, Warsaw, Poland.

2014, 13 November, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański – Zbigniew Brzeziński: Listy 1959-2003 (“Jan Nowak-Jeziorański – Zbigniew Brzeziński: Letters, 1959-2003”): special introductory speaker at a book promotion, Dom Spotkań z Historią, Warsaw, Poland.

2014, 5 January, “Ukraine: Between East and West,” Krakow University of Economics, Krakow, Poland.

2013, 23 October, [special guest] “What Does National Security Mean Today?;” John Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., United States.

2013, 22 October, Official Book Release: Zbig: The Strategy and Statecraft of Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Forum, SAIS, School of Advanced International Studies, Washington D.C., USA.

2012, 26 April, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Students’ Academic Conference, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2011, 5 June, “On the Road: The History of the American Beatnik Movement,” Tischner University, Krakow, Poland.

2011, 30 May, “Zbigniew Brzezinski and Polish Independence,” Przemyśl, Poland.

2011, 18 March, “Route 66 in American Pop Culture,” University of Bielsko-Biała, Poland.

2010, June 4, Świat Książki, Book Release, Zbigniew Brzezinski” co-appearance with Zbigniew Brzeziński, moderator: Jacek Żakowski, Warsaw, Poland.

2010 8 May, “Yankees vs. Red Sox: An American Civic Rivalry,” Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

2007, 23 October, “The Future of NATO,” Euro-Atlantic Security Forum, Krakow, Poland.

2007, 14 May, “Polish-American Relations,” Sponsored by Newsweek and the United States Embassy, Warsaw, Poland.

2004, 23 September, Introductory Speaker, Benedum Lecture Series, Zbigniew Brzezinski, “Terrorism and National Security Policy, International and Domestic Implications,” West Virginia University, United States.

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Research projects, honors and media

  • 2006, Kennan Research Grant: George Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., United States.
  • 2003, Kennan Research Grant: George Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., United States.
  • 2002-2003, Kościuszko Foundation Fellowship Research Grant, New York, NY, United States.
  • 2000-2001, J. William Fulbright Scholarship: Sponsored by Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.

  • 2010, Nomination for the Kazimierz Moczarski Prize awarded annually for the Best Book in Polish History, National Center for Culture.
  • 2004, Ambassador Kazimierz Dziewanowski Dissertation Award, Awarded by the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) jointly with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C., in recognition of the best doctoral dissertation concerning Polish topics.
  • 1999, John L. Snell Memorial Prize: Awarded annually by the Southern Historical Association for an outstanding original graduate student research paper in European History.

 

Podcasts

Films