Sovereignty invites readers to uncover the transitional character in themselves, exploring how each one of us can free our children from the burden of patterns in our lineage that we want and need to overcome.

The book will take you back to the years after World War II when Austria struggled to redefine itself after a generation of traumatic turmoil following the demise of the Habsburg Empire. The Silent Generation had to rebuild an economy and forge a democratic society, and above all, it had to emancipate itself from authoritarianism and a pathological individual and collective superiority complex.

Born into a clan of transitional characters, dyed-in-the-wool interculturalist J. Chudoba invites readers to recognize the life lessons of the pre- and postwar generations. Following a frenzy of high-intensity challenges in conflict and transition countries for three decades, Chudoba slowed down to spend time with his mother in the final months of her life, to capture the essence of intergenerational learning in his family.

Coming of age when the Berlin Wall fell and the Iron Curtain collapsed, Chudoba tells the story of his parents growing up in the aftermath of WWII. Soon after Austria regained its sovereign statehood in 1955, Chudoba’s mother and father moved beyond a subdued existence as dependents in their parental homes, establishing their independence and giving the next generation the opportunity to grow up in freedom and self-confidence.

Johannes Chudoba, MPA, has made the most of being born in interesting times and living in transformative places. He grew up
in the turmoil of Turkey in the 1970s and the final years of the Cold War in Austria. Studying Russian before the fall of the Iron Curtain, the war in Yugoslavia drew him into the vortex of post-conflict development.

Following two years as a Fulbright scholar at Princeton, where he co-taught a course on diplomacy after 9/11, he started a career with the UN, conducting research for UNHCR on protracted refugee situations and the Commission on Human Security on the impact of statelessness, and serving as head of the pioneering UN Coordination Unit in Tajikistan. Following assignments in Nepal, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to facilitate UN strategic planning and development, he settled in Kyrgyzstan for a decade. Johannes Chudoba’s 33 publications on academia.edu have been read in 140 countries.

Coming in 2025:

I am also looking at releasing my book as an audiobook edition and will be working on the German version with translation departments at the Karl-Franzens University in my hometown of Graz (https://translationswissenschaft.uni-graz.at/en/news/), the University of Innsbruck (https://www.uibk.ac.at/translation/) and the University of Vienna (https://transvienna.univie.ac.at)

Please contact me at johannes.chudobaATgmail.com if you would like to support this project, e.g. if you are interested in organising an event related to Sovereignty: Overcoming Authoritarianism and/or the Generations Trilogy.