Agnes Tycner
Agnes Tycner recently graduated from the Institute of World Politics with an M.A. in Statecraft and International Affairs, where she focused on Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Ms. Tycner received her B.A. in Economics at Colorado State University where her work and experience was community focused. In the future, Ms. Tycner plans to continue her education in law school and eventually apply her expertise that she acquired throughout her post graduate career into the field of law.
Ms. Tycner’s research at VOC will focus on Pope John Paul II’s role and impact on the fall of communism throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as how these lessons can be applied in contemporary times. She will examine how John Paul II fought communism by restoring human dignity and renewing a lost hope among people. Through examining his various encyclicals, homilies, books, and public speeches, she will show how John Paul II fought communism by fearlessly proclaiming the truth about man and explaining the proper human anthropology. In addition, she will look into his vital role in U.S. foreign policy and national security as he worked beside President Ronald Reagan to put pressure on the Soviet Union and became one of the greatest intelligence assets and public diplomacy figures in the United States. All these examples aim to show how John Paul II had the ability to fight communism through a spiritual lens as well as a political one.
Ms. Tycner’s research will conclude by examining the importance of drawing concerning parallels between similar ideological patterns emerging in the world today and at the time of John Paul II. The main message of Tycner’s research is to show that without the strength and courage of John Paul II, the fall of communism starting in Poland could have ended violently, or perhaps even worse, communism could have reigned on for decades more.
