New publication by Mr Tomáš TATINEC: "Statecraft and Leadership in Europe: The Case of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk"

Mr Tomáš TATINEC, Academic Assistant at the Natolin (Warsaw) campus of the College of Europe, recently published an article in the Journal of Arts and Humanities (vol 3, no 8). The title of the article is "Statecraft and Leadership in Europe: The Case of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk".

  

The article examines actions as well as personal traits and convictions of one of the great European leaders, who was incidentally also chosen as the patron of the fourth promotion of the College of Europe (1952-1953).

 

Executive summary (English)

Tomáš MASARYK managed to introduce the first Czechoslovak state on to the world map in 1918, through tireless advocacy carried out (literally) around the world during the Great War, and subsequent guidance in the newly formed republic. He was unanimously elected President four times and served in this function for eighteen years (1918-1935). Tomáš MASARYK was not a product of circumstances, but their producer and skillful employer. He showed himself particularly adroit in overcoming against-all-odds situations, as well as ‘regular’ crises. Initially isolated, resourceless, and repudiated by his own people, he managed to unite them and to make them join his idea and struggle for a project aiming for common good. Such a curriculum seems remarkably appropriate for a potential leader in Europe’s most advanced uniting project, the EU (European Union). Considering the 100th anniversary of the beginning of MASARYK’s state-building journey, as well as the current crisis debates in the EU, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of a leader with a vision, determination, skill, and principles. The EU may need precisely that to stay united.