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Assoc. Prof. Matt Sussex
Assoc. Prof. Matt Sussex is a Fellow at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. He specialises in Russian foreign and security policy, but his interests also cover: government and politics in Eurasia; strategic studies; terrorism and counter-terrorism; energy security; and Australian foreign policy. He is particularly interested in contemporary trends in violent conflict, especially in hybrid warfare and in the evolution of propaganda. His recent solo and collaborative book projects include Eurasian Integration, Central Asia and the New Geopolitics of Energy; Power, Politics and Confrontation in Eurasia; Violence and the State; and Conflict in the Former USSR.
Isabella Currie
La Trobe UniversityIsabella Currie is a Graduate Researcher and PhD candidate at La Trobe University. Her research focuses on the Wagner Group and its role in international relations. Her research interests also include foreign interference, authoritarian regimes, security, private and semi-state actors, and geopolitics. With a background in digital strategy complementing her expertise in international politics, Currie also has a keen interest in exploring the intersection of digital and cyber tools with the field of international relations. She is fascinated by the role of digital communication tools in contemporary political processes and their influence on societal decision-making.
Hon. Assoc. Prof. Stephen Fortescue
University of New South WalesDr Stephen Fortescue is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales School of Social Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies. His research specialisations include the Russian policy-making process, the Russian coal and metal sectors, and Russian trade corridors. His latest publication explores how Russia’s coal companies incorporate the vulnerabilities and risks associated with climate change and how this aligns with Russian government policy on the coal industry. He publishes regularly on a wide range of issues related to the Russian mining and metal sectors.
Prof. Leslie Holmes
University of MelbourneProf. Leslie Holmes is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Melbourne. He was previously President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies and President of the Australian Political Studies Association. He has been a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia since 1995, and regularly teaches advanced courses on corruption at the University of Bologna, the Graduate School of Social Research in Warsaw, and the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Vienna. He has published seven single-authored books, including Rotten States? and Communism, and his work has been translated into twelve languages.
Assoc. Prof. Cai Wilkinson
Deakin UniversityDr Cai Wilkinson is an Associate Professor in International Relations at Deakin University. Her research focuses on societal security in the post-Soviet space, with a particular focus on LGBTQ human rights and “traditional values” in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, as well as on interrogating the role of genders and sexualities in international politics. Her work has been published in journals including Security Dialogue, Journal of Human Rights, Nationalities Papers, and Critical Studies on Security. She is currently working on projects about the politics of LGBT rights and "traditional values", and queer knowledges.
Leonid Volkov
Leonid Volkov is chief of staff for Alexey Navalny and political director of Navalny’s team. He was campaign manager for Navalny’s mayoral campaign in Moscow in 2013, as well as for his bid to get onto the presidential ballot in 2018. Between 2017 and 2021 Leonid Volkov has created and led Team Navalny’s network of regional offices in 45 Russia’s largest cities. Currently operating from Lithuania, Leonid oversees Team Navalny's international and domestic political projects.
Dr. Robert Horvath
Dr Robert Horvath is a specialist in Russian Politics. His most recent book, Putin's Fascists: Russkii Obraz and the Politics of Managed Nationalism in Russia, focuses on the link between the Putin regime and radical nationalism in Russia. He is currently pursuing research into the Putin regime's manipulation of Russian nationalism, its assault on international human rights institutions, and its intervention in Africa. His commentary has been published in The Age, The Australian, The Conversation, The Lowy Interpreter, and The Canberra Times. He has appeared on ABC's Four Corners, the BBC World News, Channel 9's Under Investigation and A Current Affair.
Dr. Carrie McDougall
Melbourne Law SchoolDr Carrie McDougall re-joined Melbourne Law School as a Senior Lecturer in 2018, after nearly a decade working for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). While at DFAT she served first as a Legal Specialist and Assistant Director of the International Law Section. In this role, she provided advice on Australian operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and on the full suite of legal issues considered during Australia’s term on the United Nations Security Council. She has also served as the Legal Adviser at Australia’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. Among other things, she led Australia’s UN engagement on the Responsibility to Protect. She also played a significant role in negotiations on the establishment of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria.
Prof. Mark Edele
University of MelbourneProf. Mark Edele is Hansen Professor in History and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of six books on the history of the Soviet Union, most recently Stalinism at War: The Soviet Union in World War II. He has worked in archives in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and the United States. He teaches the histories of the Soviet Union, of World War II, and of dictatorship and democracy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Jon Richardson
Jon Richardson is a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for European Studies. He is a former diplomat who covered Eastern Europe in Moscow (in the Soviet Union and later Russia), Belgrade, London and Canberra. He also served as High Commissioner to Nigeria and Ghana. Prior to joining DFAT he was a postgraduate researcher and tutor in Soviet politics and history at the ANU.
Richard Iron
President at AIIA VictoriaRichard Iron CMG OBE is President of AIIA Victoria. He previously served in the British Army in Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, Oman, the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Iraq. He was a visiting fellow at the Changing Character of War programme at the University of Oxford and was lead editor of British Generals in Blair's Wars, and How Wars End: Theory and Practice.