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Self-determination was a keystone of Woodrow Wilson’s new world order. However, this concept was arbitrary applied during the Paris peace negotiations of 1919. Central and Eastern Europe, of which Wilson had very limited knowledge, became a laboratory for self-determination. This article examines the crafting of the American policy in this region through the work of The Inquiry, a group assembled in preparation for the Peace Conference, and examines letters of groups and individuals who appealed to the American president on self-determination issues in Central and Eastern Europe.