Event Description:
Join us for an online conference marking the launch of the latest special issue of Demokratizatsiya. This timely event brings together leading scholars and contributors for an engaging discussion on the Global South’s evolving relationship with Russia following its dramatic break with the West in 2022. Gain fresh perspectives from experts covering East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, alongside in-depth analysis of the shifting Russia–China partnership across the Global South. Moderated by Marlene Laruelle, the conversation offers a unique opportunity to hear directly from some of the contributors and explore new ideas.

Speakers:
 

Kazushige Kobayashi is an Associate Professor at the College and Graduate School of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. He is also a Research Associate at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Kazushige’s research focuses on global International Relations, peacebuilding/conflict management, and the role of non-Western powers in the transformation of international orders. His most recent writings have appeared in major academic journals such as International Studies Quarterly, Review of International Studies, and Contemporary Security Policy.

Elizabeth Wishnick is a Senior Research Scientist in the China and Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Division at the Center for Naval Analyses and a Senior Research Scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. She was a tenured professor of Political Science at Montclair State University from 2005-2024. Dr. Wishnick has dual regional expertise on China and Russia and is an expert on Chinese foreign policy, Sino-Russian relations, Northeast Asian and Central Asian security, and Arctic geopolitics.

Rajneesh Verma is a non-resident scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. His research focuses on the economic, foreign, and security policies of India and China; relations between China, India, the United States, Russia, and Pakistan; Asian security; the Global South; the world order; and international relations theory. Dr. Verma has received fellowships from universities and research institutes in India, China, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

Hanna Notte is the director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, and a senior associate (non-resident) with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She’s also an associate fellow with the Kennan Institute. Her expertise is in Russian foreign policy, the Middle East, and arms control and nonproliferation.

Mark N. Katz is a professor emeritus of government and politics at the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. In addition, he currently serves as the chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. His research focuses on Russian foreign policy (especially toward the Middle East), and on great power competition.

Moderator:

Marlene Laruelle is Professor at Luiss University in Rome, Italy, and director of the Illiberalism Studies Program. She is the author of numerous books and, recently, the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Illiberalism. She runs two Substack channels, Vivatopia and Postliberalism.