About:

Join us online for a timely and insightful roundtable discussion on the perceptions of Donald Trump’s election and administration across the Eurasian region. In this virtual event, experts will examine how countries in Eurasia viewed Trump's leadership, his foreign policy, and the broader geopolitical implications of his presidency. As global power dynamics shifted, Eurasian countries responded in varied ways, influencing regional diplomacy and international relations. Our panel of scholars and analysts will explore how these perceptions have shaped the region’s political landscape and continue to impact its relations with the U.S. and beyond.

Speakers:

Volodymyr Dubovyk is an Associate Professor, Department of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Studies, Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University (Ukraine). He has conducted research at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1997, 2006-2007), at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland (2002), taught at the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2013 and at St. Edwards university/University of Texas (Austin) in 2016-17. He is the co-author of “Ukraine and European Security” (Macmillan, 1999) and has published numerous articles on US-Ukraine relations, regional and international security, and Ukraine’s foreign policy. Areas of expertise: Ukraine, Transatlantic Relations, U.S., Black Sea security.

Emil Dzuraev PhD (University of Maryland), is a political scientist and analyst based in Kyrgyzstan. He has taught in the undergraduate and graduate political science programs at the American University of Central Asia and is a visiting senior lecturer at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. His research and teaching areas include geopolitics, international relations and security pertaining to Central Asia as well as issues of democracy, state-building and constitutionalism in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. Emil worked at the Soros Foundation – Kyrgyzstan as program manager of Democratic Governance and then Democratic Practices programs between 2021 and middle of 2024 when the Foundation closed its Bishkek office. He is a fellow of Crossroads – Central Asia, a Bishkek-based think-tank, and a regular speaker and contributor in local and international media on Central Asian political themes.

Bidzina Lebanidze PhD, is a Senior Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP) and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of Slavic Languages and Caucasus Studies at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. He obtained his doctorate in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, and his Master’s degree in International Relations from Tbilisi State University. Previously, he also held various teaching and research positions at the University of Bremen, the University of Freiburg, Berlin School for Economics and Law, Free University of Berlin and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. 

Mariya Omelicheva is a Professor of Strategy at National War College. She holds a PhD (2007) in Political Science from Purdue University and JD in International Law (2000) from Moscow National Law Academy. Dr. Omelicheva's research and teaching interests include international and Eurasian security, counterterrorism and human rights, democracy promotion in the post-Soviet territory, Russia's foreign and security policy, gender and security, and crime-terror nexus in Eurasia. She is the author of three books – Webs of Corruption: Trafficking-Terrorism Nexus in Central Asia (Columbia University Press, 2019, with Lawrence Markowitz), Democracy in Central Asia: Competing Perspectives and Alternate Strategies (University Press of Kentucky 2015) and Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia (Routledge 2011).

Chair:

Maria Snegovaya PhD (Columbia University), is a Senior Fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. The key focus of her research is democratic backsliding and re-autocratization in postcommunist Europe, as well as Russia's domestic and foreign policy. Her research results and analysis have appeared in policy and peer-reviewed journals, including West European Politics, Party Politics, Journal of Democracy, Post-Soviet Affairs, and the Washington Post‘s political science blog the Monkey Cage. Her first book, When Left Moves Right: The Decline of the Left and the Rise of the Populist Right, was published with Oxford University Press in January 2024. Her other manuscript, “Russia’s Foreign Policy and Nomenklatura Continuity in Ruling Circles,” is under contract with Oxford University Press.