Mietek P. Boduszyński

Mieczysław (Mietek) Boduszyński teaches U.S. foreign policy at Pomona College, as well as courses on the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, democracy promotion and democratization. He also organizes and leads Pomona’s first-ever short-term summer traveling seminar "Diplomacy and Human Rights in the Mediterranean," an immersive learning experience during which students spend one week in Brussels and two weeks in Morocco exploring diplomatic policy and practice around human rights issues.He is an expert on U.S. foreign policy, democratization and democracy promotion, post-conflict stabilization, transitional justice, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and the Middle East and North Africa. He has also conducted research in and written about Japan and South Korea.

Prior to joining Pomona, Boduszyński was a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State with postings in Albania, Kosovo, Japan, Egypt, Libya and Iraq. During the 2022-2023 academic year, he took a public service leave and worked at the Pentagon for the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy as a policy advisor on issues related to civilian protection as well as atrocities, war crimes and accountability in Ukraine.

From 2019-2020, Boduszyński served as a volunteer advisor on the Biden/Harris campaign foreign policy team. He was a 2020-2021 American Political Science Association Congressional and Steiger Fellow serving as a foreign policy advisor in the office of Representative Ted W. Lieu (CA-33). In 2021, Boduszyński was selected as a Truman National Security Fellow. In 2021, Boduszyński was selected as a Truman National Security Fellow, and in 2024 he joined the Leadership Circle of Foreign Policy for America.

A frequent op-ed contributor to publications such as the Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs and The Washington Post/Monkey Cage, Boduszyński's first book is about democratization in the Balkans. His second book, US Democracy Promotion in the Arab World: Beyond Interests vs. Ideals, analyzes U.S. policy responses to the Arab Spring. He is also the co-author of a textbook titled Research Methods in Politics and International Relations, the second edition of which is due to be published in 2024.

Boduszyński was a 2016-2018 Center for Public Diplomacy Research Fellow at the University of Southern California, a 2017-2018 resident fellow at IAU College in Aix-en-Provence, France, and a visiting professor at Sciences Po-Paris School of International Affairs (Spring 2018). He has also been a visiting scholar at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (Summer 2017) and the University of Gothenburg-V-Dem Institute. He has taught at the American University of Cairo, Temple University—Japan Campus, European University in Tirana (Albania), the University of San Diego and KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Pacific Council.

In addition to English, Boduszyński speaks Arabic, Japanese, Serbian-Croatian-Bosnian, Albanian, French, Polish and basic Korean.

Books and Book Chapters

"External Autocratic Influence, the Balkans, and Democratic Decline" in Hall Gardner, ed. Geopolitical Turmoil in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.

“Algeria" in Markus Porsche Ludwig and Ying-Yu Chen, eds. Handbook of Near and Middle Eastern States. LIT Verlag, 2022.

“Research Methods in Politics and International Relations” SAGE, March 2020. (With Chris Lamont)

US Democracy Promotion in the Arab World: Beyond Interests vs. Ideals, Lynne Rienner Publishers 2019

“Navigating the Narrow Spaces for Transitional Justice in Iraq,” in Arnaud Kurze and Chris Lamont, eds. New Critical Spaces
 in Transitional Justice:
Mapping Ideas, Actors and Change, Pennsylvania State University Press (2019).

“Political Exclusion and Transitional Justice: A Case Study of Libya,” in Chandra Sriram, Transitional Justice in the Middle East and North Africa, Oxford University Press (with Marieke Wierda). 2017

“Western Democratic Leverage and the Arab Spring,” in Christopher K. Lamont et. al., Non-Western Encounters with Democratization: Imagining Democracy after the Arab Spring, Surrey: Ashgate, 127-142 (2015).

Regime Change in the Yugoslav Successor States: Divergent Paths toward a New Europe (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).

Media Appearances

Polsat, Interview on Gość Wydarzeń, November 2, 2023.

Cap Radio, Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, February 28, 2022

CBS Los Angeles, International Relations Professor Reacts to the Latest Sanctions Against Russia, February 24, 2022

Op-Eds/Commentaries

2024

“A Troubling Omen for Ukraine in the EU’s Balkan Membership Struggles,” Just Security, 13 March 2024. (with Jasmin Mujanovic).

2022

“Poland, Ukrainian Refugees, and the Power of People-to-People Ties,” USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog, April 22, 2022 (with Agnieszka Lazorczyk).

“Putin’s Crime of Aggression in Ukraine and the International Criminal Court,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2022. (with Victor Peskin).

2021

“Biden promises to fight transnational corruption. But will the U.S. target friends as well as foes?” The Washington Post’s The Monkey Cage, December 20, 2021. (co-authored with Victor Peskin).

“Can Kishida Become Japan’s First Human Rights Prime Minister?” The Diplomat, December 2, 2021. (co-authored with Christopher K. Lamont).

“Libya and the Triumph of the Opportunists,” Newlines Magazine, 1 June 2021. 

“A Fulbright Story,” USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog, 23 March 2021.

2020

“Rebuilding the American Brand.” USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog. (with Sarah Alaoui).

“Trump Has Damaged the U.S.-Japan-South Korea Alliance, and China Loves It.” The National Interest, 20 July 2020. (with Gene Park)

“U.S.-Poland Relations Transcend Trump’s Transactional Diplomacy,” Pacific Council Magazine, 13 July 2020. (With Kamil Lungu, IR ’20).

"Japan-Libya Relations: A Window on Japan’s Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa,” Middle East Institute, 2 June 2020. (with Chris Lamont).

“Trump Is Stirring Chaos in Kosovo at the Worst Possible Time.” Foreign Policy, 16 April 2020. (with Victor Peskin)

2019

“What a former diplomat thinks about Trump, Ukraine, and America's role in promoting democracy abroad” (Interview in The Week, December 31, 2019).

“Will Algeria’s New President Resume Politics as Usual or Bring Genuine Change?” The Globe Post, December 20, 2019. (with Jessica Mecellem)

“Broken trust: How Iraqis lost their faith in Washington, long before the Kurds did.” The Conversation, November 21, 2019.

“Will an Israeli Energy Boom Make the EU Pro-Israel?” Foreign Policy. August 6, 2019. (with Jamie Levin).

“Trade Tensions: Why Shinzo Abe Has a Critical Role to Play.” The National Interest. July 16, 2019. (with Gene Park).

“Building Bridges Between Israel and Poland: Toward Collaborative Public Diplomacy.” USC Public Diplomacy Blog. July 11, 2019. (with Katarzyna Pisarska).

“Trump changed U.S. policy toward Libya. This is why it matters.” Washington Post/Monkey Cage. May 3, 2019. (With Chris Lamont).

“Who Controls Libya’s Airports Controls Libya.” Foreign Policy, April 24, 2019. (with Chris Lamont).

“Will Democratic Transition Succeed in Algeria?” The Globe Post, April 10, 2019.

"Japan and the Middle East: Navigating U.S. Priorities and Energy Security,” Middle East Institute, March 5, 2019.

"Guaidó backed an amnesty plan for Venezuela’s military. How might that play out?" Washington Post, February 11 (with Victor Peskin).

2018

“Public Diplomacy and the American Fortress Embassy: Balancing Mission and Security,” Perspectives on Public Diplomacy, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, December 2018.

“Saudi Arabia affair presents a moment of truth for Congress,” The Hill, October 25, 2018. (with Chris Lamont).

“America cannot ignore voices of young Iraqis demanding change,” The Hill, August 13, 2018 (with Chris Lamont).

“Why the Prospects for Democracy are So Much Better in Tunisia than Egypt or Libya,” Washington Post/The Monkey Cage, 20 July 2018 (with Sabina Henneberg).

“Libya serves as lesson to focus on North Korea human rights abuses,” The Hill, 18 June 2018.

“Iraqis Head to the Polls, Frustrated with Corruption and Ethno-Sectarian Appeals,” War on the Rocks, 12 May 2018 (with Chris Lamont).

“Does the West Have a Vision for the Western Balkans?” War on the Rocks, 13 April 2018 (with Michael Carpenter).

2017

“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,” USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog, 14 December 2017.

“American Diplomacy is not Dead,” The Hill, 14 December 2017.

“Understanding Decision-making in Transition and Fragile State Contexts,” Fragile States, 3 December 2017 (with Sabina Henneberg).

“Why Ukraine's Future Could Look a Lot Like Moldova,” Foreign Affairs, 27 November 2017 (with Chris Lamont).

“The Challenges of Building a Shared Iraqi Identity,” OpenDemocracy, 5 November 2017 (with Chris Lamont).

“Russian Disinformation and U.S. Public Diplomacy,” USC Center for Public Diplomacy 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 (with Michael Carpenter).

“Europe’s Libya Problem,” Foreign Affairs, 20 July 2017 (with Sabina Henneberg).

“Islamophobia and U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Trump Era,” USC Center on Public Diplomacy Blog, 30 June 2017.

“Hosni Mubarak is Free Again: What Does this Say About Egypt?”, Washington Post/Monkey Cage, 28 March 2017.

“Reviving the Pivot to Asia,” East Asia Forum, 27 March 2017 (with Tom Le).

“Understanding Egyptian Policy Toward Libya,” Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy Policy Brief, 28 March 2017 (with Mohamed ‘Arafa).

2016

“Fighting the Islamic State won’t change the sectarian image of Iraq’s militias,” Washington Post/Monkey Cage, 28 December 2016.

“A Diplomatic Reality Check on US Expectations in Iraq,” The Hill, 26 October 2016.

“Dick Cheney encouraged my father to defect. Now we are Americans,” The Guardian, 6 September 2016.

2015

“The Key to Real Change in the Middle East: Police Reform.” The Conversation, March 23, 2015.

“Libya and ISIS: What Happened?” The Conversation, February 25, 2015.

“Libya’s Forgotten Human Rights Crisis,” Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2015. (with Victor Peskin)

“ISIS and Japan: What’s Next?” The Diplomat, 6 February 2015. (with Chris Lamont)

2014

“The Path of post-Soviet Europe isn’t on the Map in the Middle East,” Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2014. (with Cameron Munter)

“U.S. Public Diplomacy in Poland: Twenty-Five Years Later,” USC Public Diplomacy Blog, November 9, 2014. (with Caitlin Bergin)

“Libya’s Lessons for Iraq and Syria,” Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2014. (with Kristin Fabbe)

“Leveraging the Appeal of U.S. Higher Education in Public Diplomacy Programs: the Coursera-State Department Partnership,” USC Public Diplomacy Blog. (with Monica Chellam)

“Guaranteeing the European Future of Ukraine," Liberte, March 2014.

“Democracy’s Dangerous Decline in Egypt and Turkey.” The Christian Science Monitor, February 13. (with Kristin Fabbe)

2013

“The Benghazi Syndrome.” Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2013.

“The Road from Benghazi,” published on Project Syndicate, 12 September 2013.

Journal Articles

“Can There Ever be Transitional Justice in Iraq,” Brow Journal of World Affairs, February 2024.

“Cultures of Victory and the Political Consequences of Foundational Legitimacy in Post-war Croatia and Kosovo,” Journal of Contemporary History, 2019. (with Vjeran Pavlaković).

“Iraq’s Year of Rage.” Journal of Democracy, October 2016.

“The Rise and Fall of the ICC in Libya and the Politics of International Surrogate Enforcership,” with Victor Peskin, The International Journal of Transitional Justice (February 2016).

“After the Arab Spring: Are Secular Parties the Answer?” Journal of Democracy, October 2015.

“The external dimension of Libya's troubled transition: the international community and ‘democratic knowledge’ transfer,” Journal of North African Studies, Fall/Winter 2015.

“Euroscepticism, the Croatian Way,” Sudosteuropa, Volume 62, no. 4, 2014.

With Marieke Wierda, “Accounting for the Past, or Avenging in the Present? Libya’s Political Isolation Law,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Spring 2014.

With Duncan Pickard, "Libya Starts from Scratch," Journal of Democracy, October 2013.

Talks

Panelist: “Does U.S. Democracy Promotion Have a Future in the Arab World,”  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C., February 27, 2020.