Public lecture by Thomas A. Dine

Former President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Totalitarianism Still Prevails in Europe and Eurasia:The Relevance of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Today

October 15, 2015 at 5.00 PM
OSA Research Room, 1051 Budapest, Arany János u. 32.

Twenty-six years after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union crumbled, authoritarian rulers still prevail in Europe and Eurasia. Indeed, Russia led by Vladimir Putin leads the non-democratic, strong-man ruler pack, displaying an aggressive political stance in the region as well as an open hostility toward the institutions of liberal democracy at home and abroad. Countries in the Baltics and in Central Europe are living under the cloud of fear of the Russian bear, well aware of the invasion and annexation of parts of Georgia and Ukraine and of Russian propaganda in the print, electronic, and social media. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Prague, continues to offer relevant, on-the-spot, daily news and information to an influential regional audience. What and where is the current RFE/RL, how does it operate, and what is its influence today?


For 13 years, Thomas A. Dine headed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (1980-1993), and served subsequently as assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was the longest serving president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague (1997-2005), and CEO briefly of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation (2005-2007). He serves on several non-profit boards, including Freedom House, American Friends of the Czech Republic, the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and Artists for Human Rights.