IGSD News
New member of SHAPEDEM project - Dr Aijan Sharshenova joined us on 19/2/24
On 19 Feb 2024 Dr Aijan Sharshenova joined our SHAPEDEM project (and IGSD team) as a lead Research Fellow. Prior to this Aijan was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. Dr Sharshenova holds a PhD in Politics awarded at the University of Leeds, UK. Prior to joining the OSCE Academy, Dr Sharshenova worked at the UN and UNDP country offices in the Middle East, and taught courses in International Politics and Academic Writing. Aijan鈥檚 research interests include public diplomacy, the EU and Russian policies towards Central Asia, EU policies towards the eastern neighbourhood, and international development. Recently, Dr Sharshenova published her book 鈥楾he European Union鈥檚 Democracy Promotion in Central Asia鈥� available here.
Aijan replaced Dr Asya Kudlenko, who is currently on maternity leave.
New member of the IGSD team - Dr Hita Unnikrishnan - starting soon!
Especially delighted to announce this news: IGSD is very happy to announce that Dr Hita Unnikrishnan will be joining IGSD on 3 June 2024 as our new Assistant Professor. Presently Hita is at the University of Sheffield, and prior that she worked as Assistant Professor at the Trans-Disciplinary University, and as a post-doctoral research associate at Azim Premji University, both based in Bengaluru, India. She obtained her Ph.D from Manipal University, India; ATREE, Bengaluru. Hita was also a recipient of the Prof. Elinor Ostrom Fellowship on Practice and Policy on the Commons in 2013.
WELCOME, Hita!
WUB-hub: a blog on Ukraine & Belarus intertwined fate is published on 27 January 2024
The 'intertwined' fate of Belarus and Ukraine
The 果冻传媒 Ukraine-Belarus (WUB) Hub is a new initiative building on the foundations of the Oxford Belarus Observatory. WUB Hub expands the earlier project鈥檚 coverage to include Ukraine and Ukrainians in its work, and it will grow through its events and collaborative activities with other institutions.
Paul Hansbury, IGSD Research Fellow
WUB-hub: a blog on Lukashenka's brutal regime in Belarus published on 25 Feb 2024
The Human Rights Situation in Belarus on the Eve of the 鈥淪ingle Voting Day鈥�
Just days after the breaking news of Alexei Navalny's death made global headlines, Belarusian independent media reported another tragedy that is similar in character but will likely cause much less attention. The political prisoner Ihar Lednik died in a hospital in Minsk after he had been incarcerated despite a known heart condition.
Jakob Wollenstein
Originally published by (reproduced with permission)
WUB-hub project: a new blog piece on elections in Belarus just published!
On February 25, 2024, the 鈥渟ingle voting day鈥� for the national parliament and local councils took place in Belarus. This was likely the least free election in the history of the nation. Politically sterile, with no opposition on the ballot or in the election commissions, Lukashenka is ushering in a process that the democratic opposition calls a 鈥渟pecial operation.鈥�
Jakob Wollenstein
Originally published by (reproduced with permission)