GSSC Director Linas Kojala noted that the appointment will help strengthen ties with the U.S. expert community and facilitate joint discussions and publications. His status as a Non-Resident Fellow will not affect his primary responsibilities at GSSC.
The Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., is one of the leading U.S. centers dedicated to research and policy analysis on the former Soviet Union. It was established in 1974 through the initiative of George F. Kennan, then-Woodrow Wilson Center Director James Billington, and historian S. Frederick Starr.
Over the past five decades, the Kennan Institute has become a meeting point for academic scholarship and practical policymaking. Its activities have included providing expert insights to the U.S. executive and legislative branches, developing policy recommendations, conducting research, organizing public discussions, and publishing academic work. Although the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 transformed the political landscape of the region, the Institute’s mission has remained consistent: to provide rigorous, impartial, and professional analysis of the region.
In 2025, the Kennan Institute became an independent institution following its separation from the Wilson Center. Today, its mission remains focused on producing high-quality, nonpartisan analysis, convening discussions among policymakers, academics, and experts, fostering a new generation of strategic thinkers, and serving as a bridge between the world of ideas and practical policymaking in Washington.
Current Kennan Institute fellows include Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for The New York Times; Jill Dougherty, Lecturer at Georgetown University; Hanna Notte of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies; and others.