Presentations
2015
11-12 September
‘Elections in Unrecognised States’, paper presented at ‘Perceptions of Security and Governance in de facto and Partially Recognized States’, Conference at the School of Public Policy, University College London
4-5 September
‘Elections in Unrecognised States’, paper presented at in “De-facto Entities In the Post-Soviet Space: Dynamics and Prospects”. International Conference, Lake Sevan, Armenia
28-30 August
St. Andrews
7-9 August
‘Imagined Democracy: Nation-Building and Elections in Central Asia’. Paper presented at ‘Changing Patterns of Power in Historical and Modern Central and Inner Asia’ organised by the International Unit for Central and Inner Asian Studies (Ulaanbaatar), in collaboration with the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), and hosted by Ulaanbaatar University, Mongolia.
13 June
‘The Dynamics of Politics in Abkhazia’, presentation at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), Tbilisi, Georgia.
12 June
Participated in an expert meeting entitled “The role and perspectives of civil society in peacebuilding in the Nagorny Karabakh context – 20 years of the ceasefire agreement”, organized in the framework of the EU-funded EPNK, Tbilisi, Georgia.
14-16 May
‘Magtymguly Pyragy and the intersection between literary culture and national reawakening’. Paper delivered at the international conference
‘Magtymguly Pyragy and universal human cultural values’ established by presidential decree and organised by the National Institute of Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
‘Magtymguly Pyragy and universal human cultural values’ established by presidential decree and organised by the National Institute of Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
24-26 April
‘Imagined Democracy: Nation-Building and Elections in Central Asia’. Paper presented at 19th World Convention of the Association for the Studies of Nationalities (ASN). Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York. TENSIONS panel.
2014
9 April
Presentation entitled ‘After the Ukraninan Revolution: Crimea, Russia and the EU-Russian relationship’ to National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
2014 5-7 April
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Paper presented to the annual conference British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES), University of Cambridge. Part of the TENSIONS panel entitled ‘Politics: Politics and Society in Post-Soviet De Facto States’.
25 March
“The South Caucasus: Laboratory for Transformation”. Presentation made to Geneva Centre for Security Policy Participants in the European Training Course in European Security are mid-career professionals from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence from 30 states. Geneva, Switzerland.
2-6 March
Bremen
2013
4-6 August
‘Imagined Democracy: Nation-Building and Elections in Central Asia’. Paper presented at the biennial conference of the European Society for Central Asian Studies, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan.
21-22 June
ASCN, Tbilisi, Georgia. Discussant.
5-8 June
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Paper presented to workshop entitled. “Blurring of Sovereignty? De Facto States in the International System” at the 1st European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS). University of Tartu, Estonia.
3-4 June
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Paper presented to conference organised Tbilisi State University and entitled “Space, Society and Politics”, Tbilisi, Georgia
28-30 April
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Paper presented to conference organised by the University of Eastern Finland entitled “Borders, Cooperation and Regional Conflict in Post-Soviet Contexts: Between Integration and Disintegration?” Tbilisi, Georgia.
18-20 April
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Paper presented to the 18th World Convention of the Association for the Studies of Nationalities (ASN). Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York
16 April
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Presentation made to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (csis.org), a bipartisan foreign policy think tank, Washington DC
15 April
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria, 2011-2012”. Presentation made to the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) (www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu) at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
26 March
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria”. Presentation made to the Works in Progress (WiP) Series co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) Tbilisi, Georgia.
15 March
“Elections in de facto states: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria”. Paper delivered to the 37th Annual Conference of the IARCEES entitled “Communism and Post-Communism: Transition, Transformation, Stagnation”, Dublin.
5 March
“The South Caucasus: Laboratory for Transformation”. Presentation made to Geneva Centre for Security Policy Participants in the European Training Course in European Security are mid-career professionals from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence from 30 states. Geneva, Switzerland.
16 January
“Georgia: From Rose Revolution to …?”. Presentation made to the Institute for International and European Affairs, Dublin. Opening section of talk available to watch here.
2012
17-18 May
‘Mapping the Revolution: location the Arab Spring in current protest trends’ (with Abel Polese), at ‘Arab Uprisings, Examining the Possibilities and Risks’, Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
3-6 May
The Role of the EU in conflict management and resolution in the South Caucasus and Moldova,
The European Union In International Affairs III, The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB), the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations
The European Union In International Affairs III, The Institute for European Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (IES-VUB), the Institut d’Études Européennes at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB), the United Nations University Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) and Egmont – the Royal Institute for International Relations
20 April
“The Role of the EU and OSCE in conflict management and resolution in the South Caucasus and Moldova”. Presentation madeto the 17th World Convention of the Association for the Studies of Nationalities (ASN). Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York
19 April
Chair of roundtable on Georgian Politics, which included Stephen Jones and Lincoln Mitchell. 17th World Convention of the Association for the Studies of Nationalities (ASN) entitled “The Wages of Nationhood: Conflicts, Compromises and Costs”. Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York
2011
16 November
‘Unrecognised Reality: Electoral Politics in Abkhazia’, presentation made (with Karolina Stefanczak) to the Works in Progress Series organised by the American Councils and the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), Tbilisi, Georgia
23-24 September
‘The Role of the EU and the OSCE in Promoting Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in Southern Caucasus and Moldova’, paper delivered at the international workshops entitled ‘Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in the EU, Black Sea Region and the Southern Caucasus’ that was sponsored by NATO and hosted by the Middle East Technical University, Ankara
20-22 September
‘Threading a needle? Kazakhstan between civic and ethno-nationalist state-building?, (co-authored with Rob Kevlihan) paper delivered at the12th Biennial Conference of the European Society for Central Asian Studies (ESCAS), Cambridge University
24-27 August
“Civil society, international aid, and the state: is there a pattern in democratic transformations?” (co-authored with Abel Polese) paper delivered at the European Consortium of Political Science Research (ECPR), Reykjavik Iceland
24-27 August
Discussant of the panel “Civil society, international aid and the state”, ECPR, Reykjavik Iceland
14-16 April
“Violent Secession: Evidence from the Former Soviet Union” (panel discussant) at 16th Annual ASN World Convention “Charting the Nation between State and Society”, Columbia University, New York
10-14 March
Trainer and presenter for workshops organised by the Soros-funded Central Asia and Caucasus Research and Training Initiative (CARTI), which took place in Istanbul.
CARTI contributes to the internationalization of scholarship and development of indigenous capacities for independent and critical academic work in the social sciences and humanities in the region of post-Soviet countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
CARTI contributes to the internationalization of scholarship and development of indigenous capacities for independent and critical academic work in the social sciences and humanities in the region of post-Soviet countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
26 January
“Kyrgyzstan 2005 and 2010: A comparative analysis of regime collapse”, presentation made to Inaugural meeting of 2011 Works in Progress Series sponsored by the Caucasus Research Resource Centres (CRRC) and the American Councils for International Education, Tbilisi, Georgia.
2010
13-15 December
“Potemkin Democracies: Elections in Authoritarian Regimes” at the first international seminar “Democratization and Cultural Diversity: Contestation and Consensus in EU and India” hosted by the Centre for Comparative European Union Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, India.
2-3 December
“Electoral Politics in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh” paper delivered at “Conflict as an Instrument in the Internal Political Struggles Secession Crises in the Post-Soviet Area” Humboldt University, Berlin
1 December
“EU Mediation in Georgian Conflicts”, paper presented at international conference entitled “The Role of the EU in International Peace Mediation” (funded by IRCHSS), Dublin City University.
25 November
“Revolution Reloaded? Kyrgyzstan’s crisis and its parliamentary exit strategy” presentation made to the CRRC-Azerbaijan, Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan
19-21 November
Hidden Nations, Enduring Crimes: The North Caucasus Between Past and Future conference, Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel / Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia (participant invited by Georgian government)
10 November
DCU MA Seminar Series Politics in the former USSR: Post-Soviet or Neo-Soviet?, Dublin City University, Ireland.
1 November
‘A Tale of Two Revolutions: Kyrgyzstan 2005 and 2010’ presentation made to the Centre for a Wider Europe, Maynooth University, Ireland
4 October
‘The composition and role of constitutions in new states’, presentation made to the American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
22-24 September
“Political Parties and Elections: European Theory and Central Asian Practice”, presentation made at Ala-Tau as part of international workshops organised by the OSCE to coordinate research of young scholars from throughout Central Asia (for which I was an academic advisor).
16 September
‘Post-Soviet Fraudulent Elections and the Colour Revolutionary Response’, presentation made to the Georgian Institute of Public Administration, Tbilisi, Georgia
4-10 July
International Summer School “Approaches to Post-Soviet Transformation” Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (funded by the embassy of France, Ukraine, invited discussant and participant)
21-25 June
“What are the causes of persistent upheavals in Kyrgyzstan since 2005? Presentation made to seminar series entitled to “Modern Challenges to Security in Central Asia” organised by the OSCE, Almaty, Kazakhstan
27-28 May
Dynamics of Domestic Politics in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh, paper delivered at ‘After the Melting of Frozen Conflicts: Systemic Transformations and Legitimation of Secessionist Bids’, international workshops, University of Tartu, Estonia
23-24 April
‘Rose-tinted glasses: the impact of the colour revolutions on Western-Caucasus relations’, paper delivered at ‘Encounters between the Caucasus and the West: Image and reality’, University of Amsterdam.
15-17 April
‘Dynamics of Electoral Politics in Abkhazia’, paper delivered at 15th Annual ASN (Association for the Study of Nationalities) World Convention, Columbia University, New York
2009
28 June - 11 July
Summer Institute “Enlargement and Beyond: The Process of EU and NATO Accession and Its Impact on Europe’s Security Architecture” 2009 Jean Monnet Advanced Study Institute, Yalta, Ukraine
6-9 May
‘Elections in Post-Communist Central Asian Dictatorships’, paper delivered at “Elections under 20th Century Dictatorships” workshops, University of Cologne, Germany
11-16 March
Winter Institute “Enlargement and Beyond: The Process of EU and NATO Accession and Its Impact on Europe’s Security Architecture” 2009 Jean Monnet Advanced Study Institute “Europe’s Evolving Security Architecture: Integration, Cooperation or Confrontation?”, Donetsk, Ukraine.
28 February
‘The Georgia Crisis 2008 – Russia and European Security’ seminar delivered at ‘Peacemaking and Peace-Building in Europe & South Asia’ Research Workshop, Dublin City University
25-30 January
Lectures given to students and faculty on theme of post-soviet transition, Donetsk State Management University, Ukraine
16-23 January
Week-long series of lectures/seminars on Northern Ireland conflict conducted with MA students of Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (NMCPCR), Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, India
2008
10-12 December
‘A comparative Analysis of Colour Revolutions in post-Soviet Spaces’, paper delivered at 8th Annual Aleksanteri Conference on Post-Soviet studies. University of Helsinki, Finland
3 December
Seminar conducted with MA students as part of Guest Speaker Series, Dublin City University
28-30 November
‘External Forces in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflicts’ paper delivered at ‘Caucasus Studies: Migration-Society-Language’ conference, Department of International Migrations and Ethnic Relations (IMER), Malmoe University, Sweden.
13-15 Nov
‘Political party development in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan: The external dimension’ paper delivered at “The International Dimensions of Political Party (System) Development: Assessing Actors, Methods and Effects”, Academic Workshop, Department of European Studies, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
20 October
‘The Georgia-Russia War and the Caucasus in Transition”, guest address to European Studies Masters students Yerevan State University, Armenia
2-7 June
Theoretical approaches to political party systems, week-long seminar presentations made in Dushanbe and Khojand, Tajikistan (Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching (ReSET) funded by the Open Society Institute/Higher Education Support Program.
19-24 May
Seminars on political science theory conducted for university faculty with Central Asia Research and Training Initiative (CARTI) fellowships (Higher Education Support Program), Almaty, Kazakhstan
30 April
“Comparative Features of ‘Coloured Revolutions in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan’” Seminar presentation made at international workshop on coloured revolutions at Kings College, Cambridge University, United Kingdom.
10-12 April
‘Roses and Tulips: Dynamics of Regime Change in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan’, paper delivered at Association for the Studies of Nationalities World Convention, Columbia University, New York
2007
15-18 July
‘Cold War in the Caucasus: Georgian-Russian Relations’ at Fourth Eastern Europe Conference organized on the theme of “Democracy vs. Authoritarianism in the Post-Communist World”, Warsaw University, Poland.
25 June - 6 July
Participant and presenter at Critical Sociology Network, Caucasus Academic Project Summer School (funded by Higher Educational Support Program, Soros Foundation), Chakvi, Georgia.
18 May
Keynote address at international conference organized on the theme of Tajikistan’s role in a globalized world convened to celebrate fifteen years of Tajikistan independence. Tajik State University of Law, Business and Politics, Khojand, Tajikistan.
16-17 May
“Russian Foreign Policy in Central Asia” and “Executive power in Central Asia political systems”, seminars delivered to faculty of several universities in Khojand, Tajikistan (Central Asian Resource Centre)
8 May
“Democratisation and the De Facto States of the Former Soviet Union”, research seminar, KIMEP, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
21-22 April
“Conflict Transformation in Former Soviet States” and “Barriers to Conflict Transformation in the Caucasus” presentations made at “Reforms and Conflict Transformation in Former Soviet States”, Central Asia Resource Centre/BILIM (HESP), Almaty, Kazakhstan.
12-14 April
“Georgia and Abkhazia: Russia’s Role”, paper delivered at the Association for the Studies of Nationalities World Convention, Columbia University, New York, USA.
27 March
“Foreign Policy as an Extension of Domestic Authoritarianism in the Russian Federation”, presentation made at the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism, Technical University, Dresden, Germany.