POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN
Introducing the Fall 2019 issue of Academe devoted to academic freedom around the world, I wrote that “Scholarship today is global. . . . Threats to scholarship outside the United States inevitably affect scholarship here.” The opposite is also true. Threats by the Trump administration against international scholars in the U.S. can also endanger them in their home countries. Such is the case with Stas Gorelik, a Belarusian citizen and graduate student at George Washington University. The following statement, issued today by the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies and the Association for the Study of Nationalities, explains.
The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) and the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN) express our strong concern over the August 12 detention of our fellow academic researcher Stas Gorelik. Our members conduct research in Eurasia and share interest in the situation in Belarus, and we are among the largest transnational academic societies supporting regional studies.
Gorelik is a doctoral student in political science at George Washington University. His research is not on Belarus, but rather on other countries. He is a Belarusian citizen who had to return home to Minsk in order to renew his U.S. visa. Unfortunately, U.S. policy changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from renewing his visa and returning to Washington to resume his doctoral studies. When protest activity emerged following his country’s presidential election, Gorelik was arrested at his residence in the early hours of August 12.
Gorelik is a member of the worldwide scholarly community that we represent and whose civil and human rights we are mandated to monitor and champion. Given the circumstances of his arrest, as reported by various outlets, Gorelik’s rights have been violated and we therefore urge the reconsideration of the charges against him and appeal to the authorities for his release.
Signed:
Executive Committee, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Board of Directors, Association for the Study of Nationalities
UPDATE: George Washington University has issued the following statement:
“The George Washington University has learned that one of our doctoral students, Mr. Stas Gorelik, was detained in Belarus early this morning. Mr. Gorelik, a Belarusian citizen, has been a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science since the fall of 2016 and has served as a graduate teaching assistant during that time. Mr. Gorelik has been unable to return to the United States due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. We are continuing to monitor the situation as it unfolds and are in contact with relevant parties. We are concerned about his welfare and have reached out to his family to offer support and assistance.”
UPDATE: Mr. Gorelik was released on August 15 but it remains unclear whether conditions on his freedom have been impose or if he will still face charges. As news reports attest the situation in Belarus remains uncertain.
As an historian of Russia and the Soviet Union by training, I pretty much agree with your analysis of the historical background and your invocation of the work of my friend Steve Cohen. However, no one — at least not me — is suggesting that Mr. Gorelik was arrested because of Trump. What I am suggesting is that the administration’s policies on international students compelled him to return home and prevented him from coming back to the U.S., hence leaving him vulnerable. Why the politically bankrupt Lukashenko government sought to arrest him remains, at least to me and those I quote, unknown.
Well, unless I’m missing something, you state “Threats by the Trump administration against international scholars in the U.S. can…endanger them in their home countries. Such is the case with Stas Gorelik.”
That would seem to characterize and accuse directly the President with culpability in the man’s circumstances. There is no mention of the role played by the DoJ, the DHS, DoE, the State Department, the university itself, or Gorelik’s own decisions and options.
You characterize US international student residency policy as a “threat.” The definition of threat that I readily find is: “a statement of an intention to inflict pain, injury, damage, or other hostile action on someone in retribution for something done or not done.” I think we’re being a bit too clever, and your consistent, highly charged academic lobbying against the President would not suggest now a more moderated perspective (I’m thinking of the Pomona lecture, among others, “Academic Freedom Under the Trump Regime” which you call a “regime,” not an administration, or executive office or even government). Indeed, the Trump administration had to fight academy censorship and ideological coercion to such an extent that an EO was necessary to force universities to accommodate conservative viewpoints, and to uphold implied Constitutional rights. It is apparent why Turning Point USA is receiving millions in donations.
Otherwise, while you may agree with much of my analysis, that is evidently not enough to keep it from being censored and removed off the site (it seems) apparently after it critically cited Jeffrey Sachs’ work in public policy and foreign affairs, and your alma mater, Columbia. Free speech, indeed. Perhaps there was a mistake.
Regards.