I am a PhD researcher at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the EUI, working with Prof. Jennifer Welsh (former EUI, currently McGill University). Broadly speaking, my research concerns international security with a particular focus on Russia, NATO and international terrorism. I predominantly work with interpretivist approaches to International Relations.
My PhD-project departs from the widespread claim that Russia has used the field of international terrorism strategically in pursuing its interests vis-à-vis the West. The first part of the thesis shows how Russian discourse on international terrorism in the period 2001-2015 has evolved from representing the West as an ally to a supporter of international terrorist groups. While advocating collaboration with the West on the one hand ,and increasingly blaming the West for facilitating – or even encouraging – international terrorism on the other, the second part shows how Russia seeks to build its internal and external sovereignty by presenting itself as the guardian of international order against the terrorism allegedly caused by the West. The Kremlin’s attempts to reinforce its sovereignty, both domestically and internationally, are enabled by a formalist use of international law. This formalist approach regards international law as a means to regulate relations between states of different ideological disposition. Russia’s legalistic discourse, and particular rendition of sovereignty as domination, seeks to place Russia on ‘equal’ footing with states such as China and the US. However, by promoting this ‘true’ sovereignty as a response to the terrorism allegedly caused by the West, I argue that Russia in fact reaffirms its inferior position amongst other powerful states.
I have a BA in Russian from the University of Copenhagen and a MSc in International Relations from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, where I wrote my thesis about NATO’s partnerships with Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Before joining the EUI in 2018, I have worked as a trainee in the Department of political affairs at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Moscow, as a Junior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), and as a consultant for Kilden genderresearch.no at the Research Council of Norway.
During my PhD I have been a visiting PhD fellow at the Department of Political Science at University of Copenhagen and the Center for International Peace and Security Studies at McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Research interests:
•International security
• Russian foreign and security policy
• Uzbekistan’s contemporary history and international relations
• IR-theories, in particular poststructuralism, constructivism and the philosophy of science
• Gender
• International law, especially the law of armed conflict and the use of force
• Intelligence studies