A Conversation with Petr Kolář

Sep 14

Listen to the full episode:

Time Codes:
2:25 Growing up behind the Iron Curtain
5:50 Dreaming of America
7:12 An ambassador in Washington, DC
11:20 Useful idiots and early Russian disinformation
14:00 Fascism past and present
15:00 Russia - a land apart from the West
22:00 Eye-opening debates over Trump
22:55 The trap of political correctness
23:15 Shock at a new American climate of fear
25:30 Wake-up call: Lessons for the Global West
28:45 Defending freedom is everyone’s responsibility

Cowboys, Kerouac, and Courage

From a childhood under communism to serving as the free Czech Republic’s top representative in the U.S., Petr Kolář knows democracy must not be taken for granted.

Petr Kolář’s life is a testament to the power of freedom. Born behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, he entered young adulthood just as the Berlin Wall came down. He rose through the ranks of Czech diplomacy to become ambassador to both the United States, the country that was the symbol of democracy for him growing up, and to Russia, the country that led the Warsaw Pact invasion of his homeland in 1968, when he was just a child.

Petr’s career has been marked by his country’s history, including the appeasement of the 1938 Munich Agreement that set the stage for fascism to sweep across Europe, and the perpetual struggle between small countries and great powers. When he arrived in the U.S. in 2005 as Czech ambassador, he immediately felt he was in a place where he could “not only think big but do big.” It was a place that he would come to consider a second home, and a guarantor of democracy around the world.

While still deeply attached to the U.S., Petr has grown increasingly concerned by developments since the Trump Administration took office. The hush that has come over old friends in Washington, including Republicans, the Cabinet meetings with administration officials swooning over Dear Leader that recall scenes from totalitarian regimes – so many things he never imagined he’d see, are now happening on a daily basis. Despite this, he’s optimistic that America can hold on to its democracy, and he offers some advice, as a friend from a country that is all too aware of the fragility of freedom, of how to do so.