Professor's New Book Provides A Historical Look At Russian Expansion

Dr. Nikolas Gvosdev, associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and assistant professor at Baylor University, has had his first book published by McMillan Press. Imperial Policies and Perspectives Towards Georgia: 1760-1819 is based on Gvosdev's doctoral dissertation, which he completed in 1996 at Oxford University.
"The book deals with the expansion of the Russian empire into the Caucasus and examines how and why the Russian empire got involved, and what role religion played in the process of imperial expansion," Gvosdev said. "It is a historical look at an issue that is still prominent in contemporary news."
Gvosdev was a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown University where he received bachelor's and master's degrees in Foreign Service. A Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, he earned his doctorate in Modern European History.
Prior to his appointment at Baylor, Gvosdev served as director of The Justinian Centre in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Centre researches historical and current events in Eastern Europe and publishes articles and a quarterly newsletter. He also served as research director for the Washington office of the Congress of Russian-Americans.
Gvosdev is the author of the articles "The Formulation of an American Response to Lithuanian Independence," "Defining a Russian National Identity," "Render Unto Caesar...Orthodoxy and Democratization in Eastern Europe" and "Discovering the Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Eastern Europe," among others. His research reports include those on media bias against the Orthodox Church and a comparison of policies towards the Greeks of Istanbul and the Russians of Uzbekistan.
For more information, contact Gvosdev at (254) 710-1510.