I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, a Fellow at the Illiberalism Studies Program at George Washington University, and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. I am also a member of PONARS Eurasia. I earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.
My research interests include public opinion, political behavior and political economy. I explore the ongoing democratic backsliding and re-autocratization in postcommunist Europe and the tactics used by Russian actors and proxies who circulate disinformation to exploit these dynamics in the region. I also study Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. My work has been published in numerous political science journals, including West European Politics, Party Politics, Post-Soviet Affairs, Journal of Democracy, and Democratization.
My research has been referenced by the New York Times, Bloomberg, the Economist, and BBC. I have also written for the Washington Post, the New Republic, Foreign Policy and others. Throughout my career I have collaborated with multiple U.S. research centers and think tanks to develop policy recommendations designed to address the challenges of democratic backsliding. These include the Brookings Institution, the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Freedom House among others.