International Fellowship Program Archives - Page 3 of 36

Brian O’Connor

Brian is enrolled at School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, part of University College London. Prior to this, he attained a B.A in History from Royal Holloway, University of London. He then spent the intervening years teaching English as a foreign language in Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan. Currently, he studies the Politics and Security issues of Eastern Europe/the former USSR, and I will be starting my second year in Moscow in September 2017. His research focuses on the informal interaction between the Kremlin and leading Russian oligarchs, with the aim of determining the extent to which the latter act as agents of the former: specifically concerning philanthropy, political participation, and corporate takeovers.

Dinara Urazova

Dinara is from a city in Western Kazakhstan located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. A social science enthusiast, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from American University in Bulgaria. After that she worked as a staff writer for Tengrinews – one of the biggest English-language news sources in Kazakhstan. She obtained her MA degree in Political Science from Central European University and undertook an internship at Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. Among her broader interests are social science methodology, regime transformation, contentious politics, inequalities, including those predicated upon gender and socio-economic standing, and political sociology.

Rayya El Zein

Rayya El Zein is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Tsereteli Oriental Institute at Ilia University. She earned her PhD from the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her research concerns urban youth cultures, subcultures, and performance in the Arab world and its diasporas.

Bennett Clifford

Bennett recently received a BA degree in Politics and International Affairs from Wake Forest University. He will start an MA degree in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) in 2018. Previously, Bennett worked at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security and the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS). His research interests include terrorism, sub-state conflict, counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism, with a focus on the Caucasus region.

Izzi Whelan

Isabelle has an MA in Area Studies from the University of London and an undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations. She has worked as a writer and editor at various non-governmental organisations including the United Nations in Jerusalem and the Red Cross in London. Before joining CRRC she was an editor in the research impact team at University College London. Her research interests include mechanisms for government accountability, and the use of research by civil society and policymakers.

Elizabeth Hunter

Elizabeth received an MS degree in resource economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a specialization in applied econometrics and energy policy. Throughout her academic career she maintained an interest in and taken courses related to economic development and the former Soviet Union. She first came to Georgia in 2012 after completing her undergraduate degree to teach English. Her research interests include property rights and the adoption of renewable energy technology in transition economies.

Sashenka Lleshaj

Sashenka holds an M. Sc. in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford where she studied as an Open Society Foundation Scholar. She previously completed her B. A. in Political Science at the University of Tirana and her B. A. in International Relations at the European University of Tirana. After completing her studies, she joined the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) as a Think Tank Fund Fellow through the Think Tank Young Professional Development Program for MA and PhD Graduates 2013-2014. During this period she has been working on the Western Balkans’ EU accession process as well as on Albanian citizens’ perceptions about domestic and regional issues. Sashenka’s research interests are mainly related to...

Joseph Larsen

Joseph holds an M.A. degree from Central European University where he focused on the economic transition from central planning to the market system in post-Communist states. Prior to joining CRRC he worked in the fields of education and marketing, in addition to dabbling in freelance writing and even doing some construction work along the way. His research interests include the relationship between political economy and geopolitics as well as the impact of globalization on the efficacy of public policy. After spending a few years in Hungary he is thrilled to experience living Georgia for the first time.