Public Policy and Engagement
My research has brought me in touch with policy and allowed me to work with decision makers in governments and international organizations on salient public issues related to my subject matter and regional expertise.
USAID Democracy, Human Rights and Governance
I was seconded to USAID to serve as the Senior Country Expert for USAID's long-term assessment of its $40 million annual budget in Georgia, devoted to its program on `Democracy, Human Rights and Governance' (DRG). It involved extensive interviewing of citizens and politicians, analyzing data, and drafting classified reports for USAID that include recommendations for policies, strategy, and future programming to support democracy, human rights, and good governance, to counter malign influences and to encourage inclusive, sustainable development.
US Department of State
I was the Principal Investigator of a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Georgia that focused on reforming graduate social science training at major universities in the Republic of Georgia (Ilia State, Tbilisi State and the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs). It also had an exchange component that brought ten junior scholars and doctoral students from Georgia to spend a semester in Arizona and then several academics from Arizona visited Georgia.
Other public engagement and media
I have also engaged with the International Rescue Committee, the World Bank (IBRD), the U.S. Embassy in the Czech Republic, the Catalan government the National Security Council of the Republic of Georgia.
I welcome the opportunity to work with media, and regularly field inquiries from outlets around the globe, including O Globo (Brazil), Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Russia), National Public Radio (Sweden), and other media in France, Switzerland and the United States. I have also written op-eds for newspapers in Albania, Georgia, Ukraine and the USA. Recently, my co-authors and I were invited to write two short essays [Kin Killing] and [An Eye for An Eye] for the Modern War Institute at West Point.
