“Poland First! How Rising Nationalism Impacts Poland’s Security Policy”
Dr. Justyna Zajac, Director Polish Studies Center
Indiana University
Dr. Justyna Zajac is Professor of Practice in European Security Studies in the Departments of
International Studies at Indiana University (IU). She also is Director of the IU Polish Studies
Center. Zajac teaches on European Union politics, contemporary security in Europe, international
security, diplomacy and global governance, and international political theory.
Serving as a professor at the University of Warsaw, she also teaches regularly at the European
Academy of Diplomacy in Poland. Zajac’s research interests include transatlantic and European
security, especially Poland’s foreign and security policy. She has published numerous books with
her latest being Poland’s Security Policy: The West, Russia, and the Changing International
Order. She also has published in numerous journals including European Foreign Affairs Review,
The National Interest, Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West, Against the Current.
Dr. Zajac served on several executive bodies of the Polish government including the National
Strategic Review Committee (appointed by the Polish President), chairperson of the Council of
Young Scientists of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Ministry of Regional
Development, and the National Security Bureau. Zajac was a visiting scholar at George
Washington University, Science Po, and the University of Belgrade. She is also the recipient of
several fellowships and awards from the European Union, Ambassade de France en Pologne, the
Kosciuszko Foundation, and the Galilee College.