Meet Our Scholars

The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) hosts scholars from around the world who are conducting research on topics related to Europe and/or Eurasia (the territory corresponding to the former Soviet Union). These visiting scholars include senior scholars, post-doctoral scholars, and advanced graduate students. Visiting Scholars present on their research as part of IERES’ visiting scholar roundtable event series. 

Visiting Scholars

Christos Aliprants, Visiting Scholar
Transatlantic Assistance and Postwar Police Relations between the USA and Greece (1947-1974)

Christos Aliprantis is associate professor of social sciences at the American College of Thessaloniki in Greece. He obtained his PhD in modern European history at the University of Cambridge in 2020 and thereafter held postdoctoral positions at the European University Institute; the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich; the Ruhr University in Bochum; and the Center for Hellenic Studies of Harvard University. His research interests and publications focus on state formation; policing; migration; and nationalism in central; east-central; and southeastern Europe from the nineteenth century to the present.

Nadiia Bureiko, Visiting Scholar
The (Strong) Effect of (Soft) Power: Ukraine’s Image Abroad and Public Diplomacy 

Nadiia Bureiko is ‘Ukraine Abroad’ Programme Director at Foreign Policy Council ‘Ukrainian Prism’, network-based non-governmental research centre (Kyiv) and vice-head of research NGO ‘Quadrivium’ (Chernivtsi). She has completed her post-doctoral research at the University of St. Gallen as holder of the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and research fellowship at the New Europe College as holder of the Pontica Magna Scholarship. Prior to this, Dr. Bureiko obtained her MA in International Relations and PhD in Political Science at Yurii Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine, where she also worked as an assistant at the Department of International Relations. Dr. Bureiko is the author of academic articles in important peer-reviewed journals (Europe-Asia Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Eastern Journal of European Studies etc.) and chapters for the edited books published in Routledge and Manchester University Press. Her research interests include perceptions of country status and image, Ukraine’s foreign policy and national identity. She has been working as a coordinator and researcher in the international projects funded by the European Commission, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, the Research Council of Norway, the International Visegrad Fund, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, and USAID.

Oleksandr Fisun, Visiting Scholar
The Puzzle of Ukrainian Democracy: Presidents, Oligarchs and Informal Politics after the Euromaidan Revolution

Dr. Oleksandr Fisun is a professor of political science and the department head at the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine (B.A. with Highest Honors in Political Economy, 1987; C.Sc. in Philosophical Sciences, 1990; D.Sc. habil in Political Science, 2009). His research interests concentrate on Ukrainian and post-Soviet politics. During the past ten years, he has held visiting fellowships at the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, & Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington (Seattle); the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta (Edmonton); the Aleksanteri Institute at the University of Helsinki; the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute; the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Amsterdam);  the Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Toronto; the Polish Institute of Advanced Studies (Warsaw), and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University. His publications include “Democracy, Neopatrimonialism, and Global Transformations” (Kharkiv, 2006) and numerous book chapters and articles on comparative democratization, informal politics, neopatrimonialism, and regime change in Ukraine and post-Soviet Eurasia. He serves as President of the “Observatory of Democracy” policy research center in Kharkiv, which he founded in 2016 with a group of political experts to improve democratic accountability, civic activism, free and fair elections, and citizen awareness in eastern frontline Ukrainian regions. 

A. Austin Garey, Visiting Scholar
The Next Ukrainians: Education in Contemporary Ukraine

A. Austin Garey is an anthropologist who studies cultural institutions in postsocialist states. She is currently writing about post-Soviet pedagogy as a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C. and has previously taught at Moscow Pedagogical State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and UCLA. Her first book, Leagues of Laughter: War, Comedy, and the Soviet Legacy in Russia and Ukraine (forthcoming, University College London Press), traces how a Soviet-created youth activity changed as students’ nation states collapsed, competed, and went to war. A series of interconnected, cross-border stories spanning sixty years illustrates how laughter and oppression entwined in the long cultural context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Garey has also published on issues of semiotics and cultural production in the Journal of Childhood, Education, and Society, Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Science, and Michigan Feminist Studies.

Jonathan Guiffard, Visiting Scholar
The Territorial Strategies of American Cyber Agencies Against the Russian Strategic Threat

A graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence (2005-2010), Jonathan Guiffard is a French researcher specialized in strategic issues. After 12 years in the French government, working on topics related to West Africa and Middle-East, in which he developed an in-depth knowledge of diplomatic and military issues, Jonathan shifted for an academic journey and currently pursue a PhD in the GEODE center (Geopolitics of the Datasphere) at the French Institute of Geopolitics (Paris 8 Uni.). His research focuses on the territorial strategies of American cyber and intelligence agencies, providing a geographical perspective to the digital contest with Russia and China. It also includes a previous work on the American cyber and intelligence assistance to Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. Since September 2022, Jonathan is also a Senior Fellow at the French think-tank, Institut Montaigne, following strategic and defense policies. In that fashion, he focuses on France’s strategic policies and rivalries, especially (but not only) in Sahel and West Africa.

Yusin Lee, Visiting Scholar
The Russia-Ukraine War and Its Impact on Interdependence in Energy Trade between Russia and the EU

Yusin Lee is a Professor of Political Science at Yeungnam University, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. with distinction from the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in 2004. Since then his research has mainly focused on energy policies and energy security. He has published numerous papers on these issues in Korean and English. Two of his papers, “Opportunities and Risks in Turkmenistan’s Quest for Diversification of Its Gas Export Routes” and “Interdependence, Issue Importance, and the 2009 Russia-Ukraine Gas Conflict,” appeared in one of the most prestigious journals in the area of energy, “Energy Policy.”

Eleonora Minaeva, Visiting Scholar
Conditions and Effects of Political (De)Centralization Under Authoritarianism

Eleonora Minaeva is a doctoral researcher in the Social and Political Sciences Department at the European University Institute. Originally from Perm region, she began studying subnational politics, protests, and interethnic relations in Russia. Her current research focuses on explaining institutional changes at the local level in autocracies from a cross-national perspective, with a particular emphasis on the post-Soviet region. One of her projects explores the impact of introducing rural executive elections on elite composition and government performance in Kazakhstan.

Jana Ondraskova, Visiting Scholar
The Future of Arctic Security Dynamics

Jana Ondrášková holds an MA in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Ondrášková researched undersea infrastructure security in the European Arctic and possible avenues for the US to support its allies in defending against hybrid threats against critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic/Arctic theaters. She also holds a Bc. in International Relations from the University of New York in Prague and a BA in Public Affairs from SUNY Empire State University.

Ondrášková works at the German Marshall Fund of the United States as a DC-based program assistant for the Geostrategy North team. Ondrášková co-authored several articles on Baltic undersea infrastructure security. Previously, Ondrášková worked as a research associate at Business Executives for National Security, where she worked on US shipyard modernization, the US role in West Africa, and AUKUS. She also was a EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy trainee.

Mykola Riabchuk, Visiting Scholar
Mapping a ‘Nowhere Nation’: Toxic Spell of the Imperial Knowledge and Challenges of Decolonization

Mykola Riabchuk is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies in Kyiv and, currently, a lecturer at the University of Warsaw. He penned several books and many articles on civil society, state/nation building, nationalism, national identity, and postcommunist transition in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine. In 2014-2018, he headed the Ukrainian PEN Center and was the program director of the 83rd Congress of PEN International in 2017. His work was distinguished with several national and international awards, including Bene merito medal of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs for his contribution into Polish-Ukrainian mutual understanding (2009), and the Taras Shevchenko National Prize in Arts in Literature for the collection of essays Nationalist’s Lexicon (2022, Polish translation 2023). His latest books (in English) are Eastern Europe since 1989: Between the Loosened Authoritarianism and Unconsolidated Democracy (Warsaw, 2020), and At the Fence of Metternich’s Garden. Essays on Europe, Ukraine, and Europeanization (Stuttgart, 2021).

Pavlo Smytsnyuk, Visiting Scholar
The Russo-Ukrainian War and Religious Actors: Preparing for Peace 

Pavlo Smytsnyuk is a Ukrainian scholar of religion. He specializes in political theology, modern Greek and Slavic Orthodoxy, religious nationalism and peacebuilding. From 2022-2024 Pavlo was a Seeger O’Boyle Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University. Prior to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Pavlo served as the Director of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies and a Senior Lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. Pavlo has published on issues such as comparative theology, ecumenical dialogue, as well as religious approaches to tolerance, war, and the ecological crisis. Since 2021, he has been a member of the State Department’s Advisory Council of Religions and Ethnicities of Ukraine, and has led a number of international projects. Pavlo studied philosophy and theology in Rome, Athens and St Petersburg and holds a Doctorate from the University Oxford.

Zhengisbek Tolen, Visiting Scholar
The Political Culture of Youth in Kazakhstan in the Context of Contemporary Political Reforms

Zhengisbek Tolen is a researcher from Kazakhstan and Head of the Center for Education and Social Development of the National Academy of Sciences under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He holds a PhD in Political Science and is a Professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Turan University. He received his PhD in Political Science from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 2014. He also completed an internship at the Institute of Asia and Africa, Humboldt University, Germany, in 2013. He is a recipient of the State Scientific Scholarship “Talented Young Scientists 2024” in Kazakhstan. His research interests include political culture in Kazakhstan, civic culture, youth political activism, political stability, national identity in Kazakhstan, nation-building, and ethnopolitics. More than ten of his research papers have been published in international scientific journals.

Non-Resident Scholars

Dusan Bozalka, Non-resident Scholar
Conspiracy Theories as Transnational Strategic Narratives: The Online Ecosystems of the QAnon Movement in France, Germany, and Italy (2017-2022)

Dusan Bozalka is a PhD candidate in Information Science at the Centre d’Analyse et de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur l’Étude des Médias (CARISM) at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas, as well as the Institute of Strategic Research at the École Militaire (IRSEM). His research focuses on the dissemination of strategic conspiracy narratives by QAnon influencers in English, French, German, and Italian digital spaces. Additionally, his work explores how these influencers engage with and amplify Russian disinformation narratives to their audiences. He employs a mixed computational approach, combining strategic communication concepts with sociological analysis of multiplatform social networks.

Dusan was recently nominated to receive a Schuman Fulbright Scholarship rewarding innovative projects, which allows him to pursue his research at George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (IERES). He also received a merit-based grant to be a Visiting PhD researcher at the Center Marc Bloch in Berlin, where he studied the formation of digital communities on alternative platforms. Dusan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Translation from the University of Mons (Belgium) and two Master’s degrees in International Relations and History from the Sorbonne and Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas. He is fluent in French, English, German, and Italian, skills that facilitate his cross-cultural research and analysis.

Aikerim Bektemirova, Non-resident Scholar
Between Autonomy and Control: The Evolution of the Kazakhstani Academy of Sciences in the Post-Soviet Era

Aikerim Bektemirova is a researcher from Kazakhstan who recently completed her PhD in Education at the University of Cambridge. Before that, she earned an MPhil in Education, Globalisation, and International Development from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. Her research interests lie at the intersection of education, politics, and sociology, with a particular focus on knowledge production in higher education institutions.

Esuna Dugarova, Non-resident Scholar
The Cost-of-living Crisis and Policy Responses in Eurasia through a Gender Lens

Esuna Dugarova is an interdisciplinary scholar and policy expert specializing in public policy, socio-economic development, and gender equality globally, with a particular focus on Eurasia. With extensive experience in international organizations and academia—including the UN, World Bank, European Commission, and Columbia University—she has led global projects, policy analysis, and rigorous assessments, providing evidence-based insights that shaped decision-making. In addition, Esuna has conducted primary research on the interplay between identity, power, and agency through the lens of the transnational Buryat-Mongolian community and founded the Global Buryat Academy to sustain its language and culture. Holding a PhD from Cambridge University, Esuna has authored over 50 publications and knows 7 languages, including Mongolian, Chinese, Russian, and French..

Past Visiting Scholars

2019-2020 Visting Scholars

• Iakovos Michailidis, The Reconstruction of Greece after World War II: The Role of UNNRA
• Stefan Kaschube, Multi-National Corporations as Instruments in International Relations – the Role of American Extratteritorial Sanctions
• Per Ekman, Foreign Policy Strategies of Ukraine and Georgia
• Zarina Burkadze, Competing Foreign Influences and Domestic Coordination in Democratizing Georgie: EU, NATO, US, and Russia
• Bekzod Zakirov, From Market to the State: Politics of State Ownership in Kazakhstan and Russia 
• Irina Olimpieva, Russian Young People’s Perceptions of Corruption and the Resulting Influence on Political and Economic Behavior
• Liliya Karimova, By the Grace of God: Women, Islam, and Transformation in Russia
• Aisalkyn Botoeva, Emergence and Expansion of the Islamic Economy in Central Asia
• Derya Butuktanir Karacan, The Impact of Syrian Refugess in Hungary and Germany
• Emmanuel Dreyfus, Russian Defense Reforms Since 2008

2018-2019 Visiting Scholars

• Uchkun Dustov, Sino-American Relationship at the Beginning of the XXI Century
• Miguel Vazquez, New Regulatory Paradigms to Realize Engery Transitions in the European Union
• Daria Gritsenko, Sustainable Energy for the Arctic Regions
• Daniel Stahl, The Arms Trade and International Law in the 20th Century
• Emil Nasritdinov, Migration in Kyrgyzstan: Here, There and in Between

2017-2018 Visiting Scholars

• Stephen Crowley, The Other Russia: Labor Politics and the Putin Regime in Challenging Economic Times
• Nicolas Belorgey, Prospective Payments Systems and the Elderly: A Frano-American Comparison
• Elzbieta Olzacka, The Cultural Context of the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine
• Gabor Csizmazia, The United States’ Security Relationship with Europe’s Eastern Flank
• Sielke Beata Kelner, US Human Rights Promotion in Eastern Europe: The Case of Romania (1977-1989)
• Katerina Sokou, The US’s Role in the Greek Debt Crisis
• Lauren Woodard, Resettlement of Compatriots Program in Russia’s Far East