Oral history interview with Charles Gati, 2016

Biographical Note

Charles Gati is Senior Research Professor of European and Eurasian Studies at the Paul Nitzke School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. Previously, Gati has been a senior advisor with the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State and a professor at Union College and Columbia University. Dr. Gati has been involved with Harriman since the 1960s, and is the author of award-winning books on relations between Hungary and the Soviet Union

Scope and Contents

Gati discusses in detail the interpersonal dynamic between two major Harriman Institute figures, Marshall Shulman and Zbigniew Brzezinski, and the eventual fraying of that relationship. Gati cites a number of instances of policy influence stemming from Harriman figures, including Brzezinski's and Shulman's roles in the Carter administration and Gati's own regular informal communication with the State Department throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gati is a strong proponent of area studies approaches, and he analyzes what he believes is a decline based on diminished resources. Gati also expresses concerns about the politics of human rights studies

Subjects

• Area studies.
• Brzeziński, Zbigniew.
• College teachers--Interviews.
• Gati, Charles--Interviews.
• Harriman Institute.
• Interviews.
• McAllister, William, interviewer.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Shulman, Marshall Darrow.
• Soviet Union--Relations--United States.
• Soviet Union--Study and teaching.
• United States--Relations--Soviet Union.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2016