In Pursuit of Liberalism: International Institutions in Postcommunist Europe

• Acknowledgments
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• Johns Hopkins University Press
• pp. xiii-xiv
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Acknowledgments

The topics in this book have commanded my interest for a very long time. And, as every author knows, turning interests into coherent arguments requires the help of many people and institutions along the way. I would first like to thank the members of my committee at Cornell University, whose counsel, they may be surprised to learn, I still think of and use every day—in the classroom, advising students, and conducting my research. Peter Katzenstein, Valerie Bunce, Matthew Evangelista, and Jonathan Kirshner were discerning and generous in their advice and, in Jonathan’s case, delightfully if dryly funny. I also had a great cohort at Cornell, all of whom not only became part of this project but, in that formative time, shaped my very character. They are Rawi Abdelal, Clem Fatovic, Alexandra Gheciu, Kate Gordy, Derek Hall, Juliet Hooker, Peggy Kohn, Matthew Rudolph, David Rueda, Lisa Sansouci, and Megan Thomas. Mary Katzenstein, Judith Reppy, and Chris Way were also enormously helpful to me, in ways too diverse to enumerate here.

I owe a big debt of gratitude to the European University Institute in Florence, which both provided me with the time and space to write and introduced me to some wonderful colleagues and friends, including Abby Innes, Gallya Lahav, Mark Pollack, Gwen Sasse, Frank Schimmelfennig, and Uli Sedelmeier. They were a pleasure to work with and have given me invaluable feedback ever since. Last but certainly not least, it was at EUI that I met my husband, Martin Rhodes, whose unparalleled skills as writer, editor, and scholar undoubtedly made this book better and more accessible than it otherwise would have been.

The Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, where I have worked since 2002, also deserves a huge thanks. Without the supportive atmosphere there and the numerous grants for research and writing, this book would not have the scope that it currently does. GSIS has also provided me with some top-rate students over the years, not to mention a bevy of outstanding research assistants. I am especially grateful to Olexia Basaraba, Figaro Joseph, Dana Morris, Zhanna Soushko, and Kerry West for help on this project.

This book would not have been possible without the generosity of the many people I interviewed for the project in Warsaw, Washington, Brussels, Berlin, Kyiv, and Bucharest. I was assisted in my research especially by Don Abenheim, Catherine Kelleher, and Jorgen Dragsdahl—the last of whom was essential in scoping out the issues of military reform presented in this study. Additional help came from people who gave me insightful feedback along the way, on parts or all of the manuscript: Jeffrey Checkel, Wade Jacoby, Juliet Johnson, Jeffrey Kopstein, Diana Panke, Roger Schoenman, and Milada Anna Vachudova. An anonymous reviewer at the Johns Hopkins University Press provided very helpful comments, all of which found their way into the final version of the manuscript. Financial support was provided by the US Department of Education, Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships, for the study of Polish; the Center for European Studies at Cornell University, for field research; the Department of Government at Cornell University, for a dissertation completion fellowship; the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, for postdoctoral support; and the University of Denver, for additional field research and write-up support. Having thanked these many institutions and individuals for their help, I should point out that any remaining errors are mine alone.

On a more personal note, I would like to express my gratitude to my family. Their love and support through the duration of this project was a solid source of inspiration. To Martin, first of all, who has had to live with the book day-in and day-out ever since he’s known me. His intense interest in the book, not to mention his patience through all of the ups and downs, kept me afloat. To my sister, Lisa Epstein, who has been constantly encouraging. And to my parents, Edward and Marilyn Epstein, who, with great generosity and love, expanded my horizons early.