Son of Leonte Tismaneanu. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is director of the University of Maryland's Center for the Study of Post- Communist Societies, having served as chairman of the editorial committee (2004- 2008) and editor (1998-2004) of the East European Politics and Societies academic review. Over the years, Tismaneanu has been a contributor to several periodicals, in- cluding Studia Politica, Journal of Democracy, Sfera Politicii, Revista 22, Evenimentul Zilei, Idei in Dialog and Cotidianul. He has also worked with the international ra- dio stations Radio Free Europe and Deutsche Welle, and authored programs for the Romanian Television Company. As of 2009, he is Academic Council Chairman of the Institute for People's Studies, a think tank of the Romanian Democratic Liberal Party. Between February 2010 and May 2012, he was also President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania. Acclaimed for his scholarly works on Stalinism in general and the Romanian communist regime in particular, as wel as for exploring the impact of nationalism, national communism and neo-Stalinism in the Soviet Union and countries of the Eastern Bloc, Tismaneanu writes from the critical perspective of a civil society supporter. His other influential texts deal with diverse topics such as Cold War history, Kremlinology and the Holocaust.