GMF Announces 2023 Class of ReThink.CEE Fellows

Now in its sixth year, this fellowship program addresses current and future challenges facing Central and Eastern European democracy, security, and transatlantic integration. The ReThink.CEE fellowship supports next-generation policy experts, analysts, civic activists, and thought leaders from the region by enabling participants to undertake original policy research and to inform regional, European, and transatlantic policies and strategies. For this purpose, fellows join GMF on a nonresident basis for one year and benefit from the full array of intellectual and organizational resources of this transatlantic policy institute.

After a highly competitive selection procedure, the following eleven fellows and their research projects were selected for the 2023 ReThink.CEE fellowship:

Jan Boguslawski, Poland: Eastern Europe goes global: The supply chain crisis and regional growth regimes

Ionela Maria Ciolan, Romania: Building a Black Sea security strategy against the backdrop of a new Iron Curtain

Iryna Dobrohorska, Ukraine: Veteran reintegration in Ukraine in the context of postwar reconstruction efforts

Lilla Eredics, Hungary: Responses to the situation of Roma refugees from Ukraine

Arta Haxhixhemajli, Kosovo: Digital Silk Road: China’s foreign policy and digital security challenges in the Western Balkans

Michal Hrubý, Czechia: Rethinking industrial policy and sectoral strategy outlook for Central and Eastern Europe

Harun Išerić, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Combating online violence and hate narratives against female journalists in the Western Balkans

Anna Mysyshyn, Ukraine: The application of new digital technologies in the Russia-Ukraine War and their impact on democracy and human rights

Irakli Sirbiladze, Georgia: Understanding Russia’s power in the South Caucasus amid the war in Ukraine

Simona Torotcoi, Romania: Ethnic political parties in Central and Eastern Europe: The struggles of Roma political participation

Michał Wyrębkowski, Poland: When companies self-sanction: corporate responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Central and Eastern Europe

Several ReThink.CEE fellows of the 2023 class will focus on assessing the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the war’s impact on regional security, uses of digital technology, and the short- and long-term impact on people directly affected by the war. Other fellows will explore how geoeconomic competition affects the economic prospects of the region and how countries of Central and Eastern Europe may become the winners of the ongoing transformations. Following in-depth research, fellows are expected to publish substantial policy papers and to present their findings to regional and transatlantic decision-makers, experts, and publics.

“Increasingly, foreign policy analysts describe a shift to Central and Eastern Europe in Europe’s political, military, and economic center of gravity due to Russia’s aggression, the region’s technological dynamism, and unfortunately its innovation in democratic backsliding. GMF recognized this important shift several years ago, which is why we are excited to welcome our sixth cohort of new ReThink.CEE fellows who help us gain fresh regional insights and provide solution-oriented research over the coming year as our they pursue a series of original policy research projects,” says GMF President Heather A. Conley.