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The annual George Klein Lecture is named after Dr. George Klein, a longtime member of the Western Michigan University Department of Political Science and an internationally known expert on Balkan politics and Eastern European political systems.

After his death in 1981, his widow, Dr. Patricia V. Klein, 51������ associate professor emerita of science studies, created an endowment in his honor. That endowment funds the annual lecture, symposia, conferences and scholarships.

2018-19 lecture

"The International Criminal Courts and their Contribution to Peace and Reconciliation in Yugoslavia" presented by Judge Vagn Joensen, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

Past speakers

2016-17
"Monumental Politics in the Post-Communist World" 
Dr. Juliet Johnson, McGill University

2015-16
"When Do Foreign Banks Cut and Run? Evidence from West European Bail-Outs and East European Markets"
Dr. Rachel Epstein, University of Denver

2014-15
"Crisis at The Hague: What Has Gone Wrong with International War Crimes Trials?”
Dr. Jelena Subotic, Georgia State University

2013-14
"Ethnonationalist Conflict in Postcommunist States: Varieties of Governance in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo"
Dr. Maria Koinova, University of Warwick (UK)

2012-13
"Skeletons in the Closet: Transitional Justice In Post-Communist Europe"
Dr. Monika Nalepa, University of Notre Dame

2011-12
“Do Citizens Rule in Postcommunist Europe and Should They?”
Dr. Andrew Roberts, Northwestern University

2009-10
"Democracy & European Integration 20 Years after the Collapse of Communism"
Dr. Milada Anna Vachudova, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

2008-09
"Objects in the Mirror are Closer than They Appear: The Politics of Postcommunist Europe and Why We Should Care"
Dr. Kevin Deegan-Krause, Wayne State University

2007-08
"Phobias and Foreign Policies in Central Europe: Do National Prejudices Determine National Security?"
Dr. Ray Taras, Tulane University

2006-07
"Exporting Equality: Gender Regulations and EU Enlargement in Central Europe"
Dr. Leah Seppanen Anderson, Wheaton College

2005-06
“Antagonistic Tolerance, Divided Societies and Electoral Politics in India and the Balkans”
Dr. Robert Hayden, University of Pittsburgh

2004-05
"Reconstructing Bosnia and Kosovo: Lessons for Iraq"
Dr. Kathleen Hill Hawk, University of Alabama, Huntsville

2003-04
"The Role of the Left in Post-Communist Eastern Europe"
Dr. Igor Luksic, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

2000-01
Symposium: "Transitions in Process: Social, Political and Cultural Dimensions of Change in Eastern Europe"

1999-2000
Dr. Branko Horvat, University of Zagreb

1998-99
Dr. Zarko Korac, University of Belgrade

1997-98
Dr. Robin Remington, University of Missouri, Columbia