Name: Jiří Pehe on Havel, Zeman – and a dramatic escape to the West
Uploaded: 2025-05-23T11:25:52+00:00
Channel: Martin Hladík
Description: Jiří Pehe is one of Czechia’s best-known political scientists, regularly sharing his insights with domestic and international media. But his own story is also noteworthy. After a dramatic 1981 escape to the West, he made a new life in the US. Following the fall of communism he returned to his native country and became a

Photo: Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International

Jiří Pehe is one of Czechia’s best-known political scientists, regularly sharing his insights with domestic and international media. But his own story is also noteworthy. After a dramatic 1981 escape to the West, he made a new life in the US. Following the fall of communism he returned to his native country and became a close advisor to President Václav Havel. Pehe then became director of New York University Prague, a position he is about to retire from after more than a quarter of a century.

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Author: Ian Willoughby