Last week Prof. Korosteleva attended the #ISA2024 conference in San Francisco as part of the #SHAPEDEM, #AGMOW and #WUB-hub projects. It was an amazingly fruitful experience: she chaired and acted as a discussant to a panel on #Community of Relations under threat: #SocietalResilience across #post-#Soviet space, and presented a paper on #Resilience in #CentralEurasia at the AGMOW panel chaired by Trine Flockhart. Together with Dr Chukitskaya she also met with the Association of Belarusians in America (ABA), and discussed a series of book launches with a focus on Belarus and the wider region.

@LesiaRudnik Karlstad University

@TatsianaChulitskaya Manchester Metropolitan University

Chiara Pierobon, PhD Washington University

Liv Nelsen SDU

Xing Li Aalborg University

@James Fielder Colorado

Dr Rosa Balfour, Director of Carnegie Europe - a part of the SHAPEDEM-EU consortium, published a report on contested democracy in Europe. The report explores how democratic contestation in the EU informs and shapes the EU's democracy support approaches in its neighbouring countries. The report is open access and is available to download at this linkLink opens in a new window.

Professor Elena Korosteleva is featured in the Democracy Support DialoguesLink opens in a new window, a podcast that takes a closer look at the European Union's support for democratic politics in its Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods. Professor Korosteleva discusses democratic practices and the future of democracy in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood.

The episode is available through the following streaming services:

• SpotifyLink opens in a new window
• Amazon Music
• Apple PodcastsLink opens in a new window

SHAPEDEM-EULink opens in a new window, a transnational research project, where the University of Warwick is a partner, launched its podcast series “Democracy Support Dialogues”. In this podcast series we will explore the European Union’s democracy support in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods. From best practices to shortcomings of Europe’s democracy support agenda in its Neighbourhoods, this 12-episode series walks through the policies of a variety of institutions and states to harness our collective democratic knowledge. Join the host, Fabian Schöppner, as he speaks with a range of guests and experts on democracy support in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Palestine and Tunisia.

The first episode featuring Professor Michelle Pace, Roskilde University, is available at the following platforms:

• SpotifyLink opens in a new window
• Amazon Music
• Apple PodcastsLink opens in a new window

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’s 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 ‘The European Union’s Democracy Promotion in Central Asia’ available here.

Aijan replaced Dr Asya Kudlenko, who is currently on maternity leave.