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International Research & Exchanges Board

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US-Russia Experts Forum (FORUM)

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Participant Biographies

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2005-2006 Participants

J. Randy Beck
Associate Professor of Law
School of Law
University of Georgia
Athens, GA

J. Randy Beck joined the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law in 1997 and teaches Property, Trusts and Estates, Christian Perspectives on Legal Thought and Constitutional Law. His recent scholarship includes: "The Heart of Federalism: Pretext Review of Means - End Relationships" in UC Davis Law Review (2003),"The New Jurisprudence of the Necessary and Proper Clause" in Illinois Law Review (2002) and "The False Claims Act and the English Eradication of Qui Tam Legislation" in North Carolina Law Review (2000).

A promising teacher as well as scholar, Beck has been honored by the graduating class on four occasions as the recipient of the Phi Delta Phi John C. O'Byrne Memorial Faculty Award for Significant Contributions Furthering Student-Faculty Relations. He also serves as faculty advisor to the Christian Legal Society.

Prior to his law school appointment, Beck worked for nearly six years as a general litigation associate with the law firm of Perkins Coie in Seattle, Washington. He also has government experience from his year of service as an attorney-advisor in the US Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.

Beck is a former law clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the US Supreme Court and Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham of the Fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals. He graduated first in his class at Southern Methodist University School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from Baker University. Beck is currently collaborating with Anna Nagaeva on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Discretionary Review in Three Supreme Courts: A Comparative Perspective.”


Sergey Bronin
Post-graduate student
School of Public Administration
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia

Sergey Bronin is currently a postgraduate student at the School of Public Administration of the Lomonosov Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia. Bronin graduated from the School of Public Administration of the Lomonosov Moscow State University at the top of his class in 2004. Bronin’s recent publications include ”Criminal People’s Culture: Russian Peculiarities” (2003), and analytical report on “Fiscal Policy and Administrative Barriers – Kazakhstan’s Experience” (2005).

From March 2004 to December 2005, Bronin worked in Moscow as the personal assistant to Andrei Illarionov, former Economic Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, for a year and a half prior to Illarionov’s resignation in December 2005. In January - March 2006 he worked with Ella Pamfilova, Head of the Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, Coordinator of the National Working Group of Civil G8 Project (http://en.civilg8.ru/).

Bronin is currently collaborating with James Millar, Professor of Economics at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the George Washington University, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “The G8: an Elite Club or the Executive Board of the World?”


William Burnham
Research Associate
Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES)
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

William Burnham is Professor of Law at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan and a Research Associate at the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Burnham has been a visiting professor at various Western European, Asian and countries of the former Soviet Union.  Principal among them are the University of Utrecht and University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, Moscow State University, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University, Urals State Law Academy.  He has also taught foreign lawyers as LLM students at the University of Michigan Law School.  In 1991, Burnham taught in Moscow on a Fulbright grant.  In 2001, he was the Fulbright Program’s Distinguished Chair in Comparative Law at the University of Trento Law Department in Italy.  Professor Burnham returns for the third time to teach at the University of Maastricht Law Faculty this coming Fall.

Burnham is the author of Introduction to the Law and Legal System of the United States, 3d ed. (West 2002) (700 pp.).  It has been published in Ukrainian, Chinese and Russian, and Spanish and Georgian editions are planned.  The Russian and Ukrainian editions were funded by a US Department of State grant.  Burnham is also the principal author of Law and Legal System of the Russian Federation, 3d Ed. (Juris Publishing 2004) (674 pp.) (with Maggs and Danilenko), published under the auspices of Columbia University’s Parker School of International and Comparative Law. Burnham also has several legal publications in Russian, among them the book, Sudebnaya Advokatura [Trial Advocacy] (St. Petersburg U. Press 1996) ((with Proshlyakov and Reshetnikova), the first book on trial advocacy techniques for Russian lawyers.

In addition to his scholarly and teaching interests, Burnham has been actively involved in law reform activities in Russia.  In 1992-1993, he served as a consultant to the Russian government on legislation introducing the first jury trials in Russia since the advent of Soviet power and was privileged to be an official American observer at the first such trial, held in Saratov in December, 1993.  In 1997, he was a consultant for the World Bank, producing an analysis of the problems in Russian legal education and a grants program implementing needed reforms.  In 2000-2002, he consulted with the Russian State Duma’s Committee on Legislation through the US Department of Justice on the drafting and implementation of Russia’s new Criminal Procedure Code.  Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he participated as a teacher, consultant or expert for the US Agency for International Development, the US State Department, the US Department of Justice, the US Federal Judicial Center, the Center for Constitutional and Legislative Policy, the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative, the Soros Foundation, the Open Society Institute and the International Law Institute.  In most of these venues, he taught or presented papers in Russian.  His latest projects involve him as a consultant for the US Department of Justice, working with the drafting group in Georgia responsible for drafting a new Criminal Procedure Code and working with the Russian Duma Committee on Legislation and the Federal Chamber of Advocates on amendments to the 2001 Russian Criminal Procedure Code.

Burnham’s US law specialties are Civil Rights Litigation, Civil Procedure, Federal Courts and Trial Advocacy.  He has written several articles in these areas and has argued two federal civil rights cases before the United States Supreme Court.  His latest project on the domestic law side is a book, Problems and Materials on Federal Courts (with Erwin Chemerinsky), to be published by Aspen Publishing Company next year. Burnham is currently collaborating with Olga Shvarts on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Independence of the Judiciary: Comparative Analysis and Russian Perspective.”



Richard Clark
Political Scientist
Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Athens, GA

Richard Clark is a political scientist with a strong background in public opinion and survey research methodology. He manages the Survey Research and Data Services Unit, which conducts surveys and program evaluations for local governments and state agencies. Clark also conducts the Institute’s public policy poll, the Peach State Poll, which he initiated in October 2001. The Peach State Poll is a regular series of general population surveys in the state of Georgia examining public
attitudes on issues central to public life, community, and government.

Before coming to Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Clark was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, where he spent a year teaching in and directing the Masters of Survey Research Program. He also worked as a project manager at the Center for Survey Research and Analysis, where he managed several telephone and Internet survey projects. Prior to that, he was a research associate at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, the world’s largest public opinion data archive. Clark is currently collaborating with Andrey Dakhin on co-authoring a white paper entitled “The Relationship between Local and National Governments in Russia and the United States and the Impact on Security and Energy Policies.”



Andrey Dakhin
Professor, Chair
Philosophy and Political Science Department
State Architectural and Civil Engineering University
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

Andrey Dakhin is currently the chair of the Philosophy and Political Science Department at the State Architectural and Civil Engineering University of Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, where he has worked since 1985.  Dakhin was awarded a Doktor Nauk degree in 1996. Dakhin is the author of numerous publications, the most recent of which are: “Institution of Elections in Russia: Binary Structure, Democracy, Security” (2005), “Aspect of Social Transparency” (2005), “After Beslan: Speeding up of Phenomenology Turn of the System of State Power in Russia” (2005). Dakhin is currently collaborating with Rich Clark, faculty member at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at University of Georgia, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “The Relationship between Local and National Governments in Russia and the United States and the Impact on Security and Energy Policies.”



Vladimir Dashkeyev
Research Fellow
Institute for the Economy in Transition
Moscow, Russia

Vladimir Dashkeyev is a research fellow at the Institute for the Economy in Transition in Moscow, Russia. Dashkeyev received a diplom in economics from the State University of Management, Institute for National Economics in Moscow in 2001. Dashkeyev’s recent publications include “Problems of Real Sector Modeling. Macroeconomic Production Functions Estimation Using Balance-Sheet Data”, “Factor of Competitiveness of the Russian Economy”, and “The External and Internal Factors of the Development of the Real Sector of Russia’s Economy (Fuel-and-Raw Materials Complex and Electric Power Engineering).” Dashkeyev is currently collaborating with Martin Spechler, Professor of Economics at the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Legal Institutions: Causes or Consequences of Economic Growth?”



Randall Eberts
Executive Director
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Kalamazoo, MI

Dr. Randall Eberts is Executive Director of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.  Eberts directs a staff of 55, which is divided into two divisions: one devoted to research and the other to the operation of local employment and training programs.

Before joining the Institute in September 1993, Eberts was assistant vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.  In that capacity, he directed a research group that focused on issues related to labor markets, regional economic development, productivity, and public finance.  He also administered the Bank's three research publications.

During 1991-1992, Eberts served as senior staff economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisers.  His primary areas of responsibilities included monitoring and analyzing issues related to unemployment insurance, job training, income distribution, education, and public infrastructure investment.

Eberts was also an Associate Professor of economics at the University of Oregon and a visiting professor at Texas A&M University.  During that time, he conducted research funded by the National Science Foundation on the effects of public infrastructure on local economic development. He has served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Measuring and Improving Infrastructure Performance and currently serves on the Transportation and Economic Development Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

Ebert’s current work on economic development includes collaboration with the OECD/LEED to examine the role of local partnerships in workforce development and economic development, including a recent examination of the role of workforce intermediaries in addressing the needs of local businesses by promoting workforce solutions for incumbent workers.  He is currently evaluating a state-wide initiative in Michigan to establish regional skill alliances among workforce agencies and local businesses to promote growth in key industrial sectors.  He has recently coauthored a chapter on urban labor markets for the Blackwell Press and a chapter on economic development and agglomeration economies for Handbook on Regional and Urban Economics.  Hehas also authored and edited books on regional economics, including Wage and Employment Adjustment in Local Labor Markets and Economic Restructuring of the American Midwest.  He has published extensively in academic journals, including Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Labor Economics, and Economic Inquiry. Eberts is currently collaborating with Svetlana Tvorogova on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Strategies for Enhancing Performance of Scientific Centers.”



Brian Finlay
Senior Associate
Henry L. Stimson Center
Washington, DC

Brian Finlay is a senior associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, a non-profit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to innovative and pragmatic solutions to international security challenges. He specializes in issues of nuclear and biological weapons proliferation, WMD terrorism, weapons scientist redirection and business engagement in the former Soviet Union.

Finlay currently serves as co-director of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Project, a multifaceted program designed to accelerate existing efforts, and design new projects aimed at more rapidly and sustainably securing dangerous weapons, materials and expertise.

Prior to joining the Stimson Center in January 2005, Finlay served as Director of the Nuclear Threat Reduction Initiative, a program of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Previously, he has served as an international program officer at the New York City-based Century Foundation (formerly the Twentieth Century Fund) and as a Senior Researcher in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

Before emigrating from Canada, he was a Project Manager for the Laboratory Center for Disease Control in Ottawa. There, he coordinated a team in assessing the economic impact of a bioterrorist incident on the Canadian homeland, helping to pioneer Health Canada's bioterrorism preparedness program. He also has served as a consultant to the Foreign Affairs Canada working on the Ottawa Treaty on Landmines and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Finlay is author of numerous articles on national security issues, including the recent book entitled Securing Russia's Loose Nukes: Progress Since 9-11. He is also the co-editor of Ultimate Security: Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (Century Foundation Press, 2003) and contributor to Grave New World: Security Challenges in the Twenty-First Century (Georgetown University Press, 2003).
Finlay holds a Masters degree in International Relations from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, and a Graduate Diploma from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Finlay is currently collaborating with Victor Mizin on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Pride and Prejudice: Interplay of Domestic Policy and Foreign Relations - Related Factors in Russia's Dialogue with the US on Iranian Nuclear Program.”



Mira Gur-Arie
Director
International Judicial Relations Office
Federal Judicial Center
Washington, DC

Mira Gur-Arie is the Director of the Federal Judicial Center’s International Judicial Relations Office in Washington, DC.   The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency for the U.S. federal courts.  Gur-Arie develops educational programs briefings for foreign judges and court officials, in the United States and abroad, on a range of topics including judicial reform, judicial branch education, court administration, and judicial ethics.  From 1995 - 1999, Gur-Arie worked in Moscow, Russia with the Ford Foundation and ABA/CEELI on a variety of legal reform projects.  Prior to her work in Russia, Gur-Arie was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education at Cardozo School of Law in New York City and an Assistant Public Defender with the New York Legal Aid Society.  Gur-Arie was a law clerk to the Honorable Alfred J. Lechner, United States District Court, District of New Jersey.  She is a graduate of New York University School of Law, cum laude, and Cornell University, magna cum laude.  Gur-Arie is currently collaborating with Ekaterina Mishina on co-authoring a white paper entitled “The Application of International Treaties in the Russian Federation and the United States and Its Implications for National Policy: A Comparative Perspective.”



Leonid Karabeshkin
Project Coordinator
Center of Integration Research and Projects (CIRP)
St. Petersburg, Russia

Leonid Karabeshkin works as the project coordinator at the Center for Integration Research and Projects in St. Petersburg. Karabeshkin also serves as a chairman of The Baltic Club, a regional NGO. Prior to this, he served as a project coordinator at the Academic & Scientific Forum on International Relations in Moscow. Karabeshkin graduated from St. Petersburg State University School of International Relations, and interned at the University of Leuven (Belgium) in 2002, and the University of Vilnius in 1998. Karabeshkin is the author of a number of publications, the most recent of which include “The Russian Domestic Debate on Kaliningrad. Integrity, Identity and Economy” (2004), “The American Factor in Russian-Lithuanian Relations” (2003), and ”Clarifying the Status of Kaliningrad Oblast’ in the Context of Russian Federalism” (2003). Karabeshkin is currently collaborating with Dina Spechler, Associate Professor at the Russia and East European Institute (REEI) at Indiana University, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “EU and NATO Enlargement to the Baltic States: Expectations, Implications and Lessons for Current Russian Policy.”



Elena Klitsunova
Program Director
Center for Integration Research and Projects (CIRP)
St. Petersburg, Russia

Elena Klitsunova is a program director at the Center for Integration Research and Projects in St. Petersburg, where she has worked since 2000.  Klitsunova is a graduate of St. Petersburg State University, and received her MA from the Central European University in International Relations in 1999. Klitsunova has received a number of fellowships, the most recent of which are the Freedom House Regional Project Grant (2002), the Volkswagen Foundation Research Fellowship from the Institute for Political Science, Ederhard-Karls University in Germany (2001), and the International Institute of Human Rights Conference Grant, 31st Annual Study Session, Strasbourg, France (2000). Klitsunova’s recent publications include “EU-Russian Relations: the Russian Perspective” (2005), and “EU-Russian Relations after the Enlargement: Problems and Prospects” (2004). Klitsunova is currently collaborating with Robert Legvold, Professor of Political Science at the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “EU-Russia Political Dialogue: Is There Any Future for It?”



Valery Konovalov
Professor
Department of Sociology and Political Science
Rostov State University
Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Valery Konovalov has taught at the Rostov State University Department of Sociology and Political Science since 1997. Since 2003, he also has served as a director of the Rostov State University Regional Resource Center of Political Science. Konovalov was awarded a PhD in Philosophy in 1981. He defended his Doktor Nauk degree in 1995. Konovalov has attended a number of international conferences and congresses. He is the author of approximately 233 publications. His main publications are “Islam World Order vs. New World Order” (2005), “National and Regional Security on the North Caucasus” (2005), “Global Society” (2003), and “Political Science in Questions and Answers” (1999). Konovalov is currently collaborating with Max Tsvetovat., Assistant Professor at the Center for Social Complexity at George Mason University, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Geo-strategic Processes in the Greater Caucasus and Caspian Regions: A Spatial Network Dynamics Model.”



Ekaterina Kudelich
Chief Consultant
The Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation
Moscow, Russia

Ekaterina Kudelich is a chief consultant at the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Russia. Kudelich received a law degree from State University Higher School of Economics in 2001 and her PhD in jurisprudence in 2004. Kudelich is the author of a number of publications, including “International Legal Entity in Banking: Examples of Judicial Practice” (2005), “Customs Returns Goods…Civil Actions to Customs Authorities” (2005), and “Express-Post Invoice as an Analogue of International Air Way-Bill” (2005). Kudelich is currently collaborating with Mira Gur-Arie, Director of International Judicial Relations Office at the Federal Judicial Center, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “The Application of International Treaties in the Russian Federation and the United States and Its Implications for National Policy: A Comparative Perspective.”



Robert Legvold
Marshall D. Shulman Professor
Harriman Institute
Columbia Univesity
New York, NY

Robert Legvold is Marshall D. Shulman Professor in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, where he specializes in the international relations of the post-Soviet states. He was Director of The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, from 1986 to 1992. Prior to coming to Columbia in 1984, he served for six years as Senior Fellow and Director of the Soviet Studies Project at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. For most of the preceding decade, he was an Assistant, then Associate, Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. He received his PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1967.

Legvold's areas of particular interest are the foreign policies of Russia, Ukraine, and the other new states of the former Soviet Union, US relations with the post-Soviet states, and the impact of the post-Soviet region on the international politics of Asia and Europe. His most recent books are, with Bruno Coppieters, Statehood and Security: Georgia after the Rose Revolution (The MIT Press, 2005), with Celeste Wallander, Swords and Sustenance: The Economics of National Security in Belarus and Ukraine (The MIT Press, 2004); Thinking Strategically: The Major Powers, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian Nexus (The MIT Press, 2002), with Sherman Garnett, Belarus at the Crossroads (The Carnegie Endowment, 1999), and with Alexei Arbatov and Karl Kaiser, Russian Security and the Euro-Atlantic Region (M.E. Sharpe,  1999). With Timothy Colton, he co-edited After the Soviet Union: From Empire to Nations (Norton, 1992). His most recent essays are, “Clinton’s Foreign Policy and the Revolution in the East, in Todd G. Shields, et. al., eds., The Clinton Riddle, 2004;  “All the Way: Crafting a US-Russian Alliance,” The National Interest, Winter 2002-2003; “Russia’s Unformed Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, September-October 2001 ; "The Three Russias: Decline, Revolution, and Reconstruction," in Robert Pastor, ed., A Century's Journey, Basic Books, 1999.

Legvold is a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a member of various advisory boards, including those of the National Bureau of Asian and Soviet Research,  the Center for Defense and Disarmament Studies, the Committee on International Security Studies of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Forum of the US-Russian Business Council, the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, and the Foundation for International Peace and Democracy, led by Mikhail Gorbachev. He serves on the editorial board of Cambridge Soviet Paperbacks (Cambridge University Press) and on the advisory board of Columbia University's Journal of International Affairs. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Legvold is currently collaborating with Elena Klitsunova on co-authoring a
white paper entitled “EU-Russia Political Dialogue: Is There Any Future for It?”



Alexander Livshin
Associate Professor
School of Public Administration
Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia

Alexander Livshin is an associate professor at the School of Public Administration at Moscow State University, where he has worked since 1991. Livshin’s primary research interests focus on nongovernmental organization (NGO) management, relations between government, businesses and NGOs, corporate social responsibility, Russian history, and Russian politics. Livshin received  a PhD in 1986 from  Moscow State University and defended his post-doctoral dissertation (Doktor Nauk) in 2004. Livshin has served as a visiting professor at various international universities, the most recent of which are the Maxwell School of Citizenship, Syracuse University, USA (2001-2202), Ecole des Hautes en Science Scociale, Paris, France (1999), and the Kennedy Center for International Studies, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Livshin is the author of numerous publications, the most recent of which are “Current Issues of the Development of Nonprofit Economy” (2006), “Nonprofit Sector in Russia and the World: Current Problems of Management and Economic Development” (2005), “Popular Opinion in Soviet Russia, 1917-1929 (2004), and “The State and Society: Dialogue via Letters” (2002). Livshin is currently collaborating with Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Building and Maintaining Foundations in Modern Societies.”



Ekaterina Mishina
Deputy Director
Institute of Legal Studies
Higher School of Economics
Moscow, Russia

Ekaterina Mishina is a deputy director of the Institute of Legal Studies of the Higher School of Economics, Russia. Prior to this, Mishina worked as a legal advisor to the President of the Foundation for Development of Parliamentary Processes in Russia. Mishina received a PhD in law from the Institute of State and Law, Russian Academy of Science in 1992. Mishina is the author of a number of publications, including “Student’s Record Book in Judge’s Robe Pocket” (2005), “Pornography Against the Freedom of Speech” (2004), and “The Authorities Shall Be Responsible (Comments on the Draft Code of Administrative Procedure)”. Mishina is currently collaborating with Melanie Peyser, Supreme Court Fellow at the Federal Judicial Center, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Obstacles and Opportunities for Promoting Judicial Independence: Supporting Independent Decision-making and Curbing Internal and External Influences on Judges.”



Victor Mizin
Leading Research Fellow
Center for International Security
Institute of World Economics and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Science (IMEMO)
Moscow, Russia

Victor Mizin is a leading research fellow at the Center for International Security in Moscow, Russia, where he has worked since 2004. Prior to that, he was a diplomat-in-residence and senior research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. He has also served as a political counselor at the Russian Mission to the United Nations, and directed various offices at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the offices of crisis management, multilateral disarmament issues, export control and nonproliferation, and UN peacekeeping operations. Mizin participated as an adviser to multiple bilateral and multilateral arms control negotiations including START I and START II, INF, SCC Commission, and took part in several UN and OSCE missions (i.e. OSCE Bosnia’s elections preparation and monitoring 1996-1997). He has attended numerous international arms control and nonproliferation conferences, and published extensively on security and military issues, as well as on nonproliferation and export control problems in Russia and in the West. Mizin is currently collaborating with Brian Finlay, Senior Associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Pride and Prejudice: Interplay of Domestic Policy and Foreign Relations - Related Factors in Russia's Dialogue with the US on Iranian Nuclear Program.”



Anna Nagaeva
Senior Counsel
The Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation
Moscow, Russia

Anna Nagaeva is a senior counsel at the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in Moscow, Russia. Prior to this, Nagaeva served as a senior consultant at the Legislation Department of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. Nagaeva received a law degree from Rostov State University in 2003. Her main publications include “The Use of ‘Hearing within a Reasonable Time’ guideline in the Arbitration Court System of the Russian Federation” (2005), “The Increasing Role of Contractual Self-Regulation of the IT-Relationships” (2005), and “The Legal Aspects of On-Line Contracting” (2004). Nagaeva is currently collaborating with J. Randy Beck, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Discretionary Review in Three Supreme Courts: A Comparative Perspective.”



Bruce Parrott
Professor and Director
Russian and Eurasian Studies
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Washington, DC

Bruce Parrott is professor and director of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is author of Russia and the New States of Eurasia: The Politics of Upheaval (with Karen Dawisha, 1994); The Soviet Union and Ballistic Missile Defense (1987); and Politics and Technology in the Soviet Union (1983). His edited publications include: Democratic Changes and Authoritarian Reactions in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova (1997); Conflict, Cleavage, and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus (1997); The End of Empire? The Transformation of the USSR in Comparative Perspective (1996); State‑Building and Military Power in Russia and the New States of Eurasia (1995); and The Dynamics of Soviet Defense Policy (1990). His current research interests include the changing geopolitics of Eurasia and the impact of nationalism on the political development of postcommunist states.  He received his PhD from Columbia University. Parrott is currently collaborating with Dr. Tatiana Shakleina on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Foreign Policy Research and its Role in Decision Making: A Comparative Analysis of American and Russian Experience.”



Melanie C. Peyser
Supreme Court Fellow
Federal Judicial Center
Washington, DC

Melanie C. Peyseris currently a Supreme Court Fellow assigned to the Federal Judicial Center, the research and training agency of the United States federal judiciary.  Prior to joining the Supreme Court Fellows Program, Peyser served as Project Director for the Central Asia Judicial Systems Development Project, which worked with the judiciaries of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to improve judicial education, court administration and administrative law. From 2001-2003, Peyser served as the Director of the Center for Justice Assistance (CJA) of the INDEM Foundation, a joint project of INDEM Foundation (Moscow) and the Vera Institute of Justice (New York) where she designed and managed research and pilot projects to improve the efficiency, transparency and fairness of justice sector agencies in Russia.  The CJA’s projects included a pilot project to improve the transparency and efficiency of crime registration; a pilot project to prepare youth for transition from incarceration to community; and research on topics such as organization of legal services for indigent defendants, police performance evaluation and citizen satisfaction with police.  In addition to independent consulting on rule of law, human rights, civil society and philanthropy issues, Peyser has served as Executive Director of the Charities Aid Foundation America and Regional Director for Central Russia and Siberia for the Eurasia Foundation.  Peyser holds an A.B. in Political Science and Soviet Studies from Colgate University.  She spent a year studying law at Voronezh State University from 1989-1990 prior to completing an MA in Russian Studies at Middlebury College, and a JD at Albany Law School.  Peyser is fluent in Russian. Peyser is currently collaborating with Ekaterina Mishina on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Obstacles and Opportunities for Promoting Judicial Independence: Supporting Independent Decision-making and Curbing Internal and External Influences on Judges.”



Susanna Pshizova
Associate Professor
School of Public Administration
Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia

Susanna Pshizova is an associate professor at the School of Public Administration, Moscow State University. Prior to this, Pshizova was an associate professor at the Department of Sociology, Moscow State University. Pshizova served as co-chair of the research project “Political Parties in Post-Soviet Space” of the Committee on Political Sociology of the International Political Science Association. Pshizova has attended a number of international seminars and workshops, the most recent of which were the Russian-Swiss scholar seminar on the problems of formation of civil society in Russia, and a working group on the Russian government’s administrative reform at the Center of the Development of Information Society. Pshizova is the author of a number of publications, including “Conclusion: Party Building in Post-Soviet Space: Between Imitation and Simulation” (2005), “Political Parties in Post-Soviet Space: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Baltics” (2005), “Business as Interest Group in the Political System of Modern Russia” (2005). Pshizova is currently collaborating with Thomas Wood, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Trinity College, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Politics as Business: The Commodification of Democracy in the Former Soviet Union.”



Tatiana Shakleina
Chief
Foreign Policy Studies Department
Institute for US and Canadian Studies
Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russia

Tatiana Shakleina serves as a chief of the Foreign Policy Studies Department at the Institute of the USA and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, where she has worked since 1972. Shakleina also has taught at the State University of Humanities and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Shakleina received her PhD in World History and International Relations in 1984 and was awarded a Doktor Nauk degree in 2003.  She has received multiple international grants, the most recent of which include the MacArthur Foundation Follow-On Individual grant (2000-2002), the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) grant (1991-2002), and the Contemporary Issues Fellowship Program grant (2000). Shakleina is the author of a number of publications. Her main publications include “Contemporary Foreign Policy Research in the United States: Schools and Impact on Decision Making Process” (expected in 2006), “Foreign Policy of the Bush Administration: Concepts and Practice” (2003), and “Russia and the United States in New World Order” (2002). Shakleina is currently collaborating with Bruce Parrot, Director of Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Foreign Policy Research and its Role in Decision Making: A Comparative Analysis of American and Russian Experience.”



Olga Shvarts
Judicial Reform Component Coordinator
Federal Center for Project Finance
Moscow, Russia

Olga Shvarts is a judicial reform component coordinator at the Federal Center for Project Finance in Moscow, Russia. Prior to this, Shvarts was a project coordinator at the World Bank Legal Reform Project. She received a PhD in juridical sciences from Moscow State Law Academy in 1999. Shvarts has attended numerous international conferences and published extensively. Her recent publications include “The Creation of Independent Judiciary and the Changing Nature of the Courts and the Courtroom” (2005), “State Informational Transparency Guarantees Vested in the Legislation and Legislative Perspectives in This Sphere in Problems of Transparency of Justice” (2005), and “Judicial Reform is Over” (2004). Shvarts is currently collaborating with William Burnham, Research Associate at the Center for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Michigan, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Independence of the Judiciary: Comparative Analysis and Russian Perspective.”



Dina Rome Spechler
Professor
Russia and East European Institute (REEI)
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN

Dina Rome Spechler is a professor of political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.  She received her PhD from Harvard University, and has taught at Harvard and at Tel Aviv University.  Her research interests are in comparative foreign policy and foreign policy analysis, with a particular focus on the foreign policy behavior of the United States and Russia, as well as of other states in the Former Soviet Union and in the Middle East.  Her current research is on the explanation of major foreign policy change, drawing on case studies from each of those regions.  She is also investigating the domestic sources of contemporary Russian foreign policy.  Spechler’s publications include Permitted Dissent in the USSR; Domestic Influences on Soviet Foreign Policy; and Russian Nationalism and Political Stability in the USSR.  Her most recent publication is a co-authored study (with Martin C. Spechler) of major power competition in Central Asia, “Conflict and Cooperation in Central Asia After 9/11,” in Ariel Cohen, ed., Eurasia in Balance (2005). Spechler is currently collaborating with Leonid Karabeshkin on co-authoring a white paper entitled “EU and NATO Enlargement to the Baltic States: Expectations, Implications and Lessons for Current Russian Policy.”



Martin Spechler
Professor of Economics
Russian and East European Institute
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN

Martin Spechler (PhD, Harvard University) has been professor of economics and affiliate of the Russian and East Europe Institute of Indiana University for nearly twenty years.  He is the author of Perspectives in Economic Thought and many articles on the economic history of Russia, privatization in several post-Communist countries, conversion of military enterprises, economic reform, and the political economy of Central Asia.  He is also the book review editor of Comparative Economic Studies, and a consultant and researcher for USAID, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Global Development Network.  His current research project is designing a new pension plan for some of the poorer countries of the CIS. Spechler is currently collaborating with Vladimir Dashkeyev on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Legal Institutions: Causes or Consequences of Economic Growth?”



Maksim Tsvetovat
Assistant Professor
Center for Social Complexity and Department of Public and International Affairs
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

Maksim Tsvetovat is an assistant professor at the Center for Social Complexity and Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Tsetovat received his PhD from the Computation, Organizations and Society programme in the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University. His dissertation was centered on the use of artificial intelligence techniques such as planning and semantic reasoning as a means of studying behavior and evolution of complex social networks (i.e .terrorist organizations.) He received a Master of Science degree from University of Minnesota with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence and design of Multi-Agent Systems, and has also extensively studied organization theory and social science research methods.

His research is centered on building high-fidelity simulations of social and organizational systems using concepts from distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems. Other projects focus on social network analysis for mapping of internal corporate networks or study of covert and terrorist organizations. Tsetovat is a professional software architect and database specialist, specializing in distributed architectures. Tsetovat is currently collaborating with Valery Konovalov on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Geo-strategic Processes in the Greater Caucasus and Caspian Regions: A Spatial Network Dynamics Model.”



Svetlana Tvorogova
Senior Lecturer
Higher School of Economics
Moscow, Russia

Svetlana Tvorogova is a senior lecturer at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. Tvorogova received her PhD in 2002 from the Higher School of Economics, Moscow Sate University. Tvorogova’s recent publications include “Macro Processes in Russian Science during the Post-Soviet Period” (2005), “Human and Social Capital as Key Resources of the Labor Market in Nowadays Russia (2005), and “Between Two Lights: On the Book “State Social Policy and Survival Strategies of the Households” (2004).Tvorogova is currently collaborating with Randall Eberts, Executive Director of the Upjohn, on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Strategies for Enhancing Performance of Scientific Centers.”



Richard Weitz
Senior Fellow
Hudson Institute
Washington, DC

Richard Weitz is a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Future Security Strategies. He analyzes mid- and long-term national and international political-military issues, including by employing scenario-based planning. His current areas of research include defense reform, counterterrorism, and US policies towards Eurasia. He also manages the Center’s daily activities and coordinates Hudson’s intern program.

From 2003 to 2005, Weitz was a Senior Staff Member at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA). There he assessed methods to deter rogue states and non-state actors from using weapons of mass destruction. He also evaluated homeland security policies in the United States and foreign countries. From 2002 to 2004, Weitz was a consultant for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Defense Science Board, and DFI International, Inc. He also has held positions with the Center for Strategic Studies, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (BCSIA) at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and the US Department of Defense.

Weitz recently published a book for The International Institute for Strategic Studies, Revitalising US–Russian Security Cooperation: Practical Measures (Routledge, 2005). He has written extensively in such journals as The National Interest, The Washington Quarterly, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and The Journal of Strategic Studies. He also was a contributor to Beyond Goldwater-Nichols: Defense Reform for a New Strategic Era (Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2004); Preventing Conflict in the Post-Communist World: Mobilizing International and Regional Organizations (Brookings, 1996); and After the Cold War: International Institutions and State Strategies in Europe, 1989-91 (Harvard University Press, 1993).

Weitz is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A. with Highest Honors in Government), the London School of Economics (MSc in International Relations), Oxford University (MPhil in Politics), and Harvard University (PhD in Political Science).  Weitz’s commentaries have appeared in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) and many Internet-based publications.  He has appeared on ABC News, Al-Hurra, Pacifica Radio, and additional broadcast media. He also has delivered numerous presentations at conferences, panels, and other events. Weitz is currently collaborating with Alexander Livshin on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Building and Maintaining Foundations in Modern Societies.”



Tom Wood
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Trinity College, Hartford, CT

Tom Wood is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, Trinity College Hartford, where he teaches courses on Central Asia, Turkey, and the former Soviet Union. Formerly a program officer for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at IFES in Washington DC, Wood managed a portfolio of election-related and citizen education programs in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Prior to IFES, Wood was with the Civic Education Project (CEP), administering higher education fellowship exchange programs in the Former Soviet Union. From 1997-2000 he was teaching international relations at the American University-Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. In May 2005, Wood received his PhD from the Fletcher School, Tufts University with a dissertation on Kyrgyz foreign policy. Wood’s research interests include democratization in the Former Soviet South and the foreign policies of the newly independent states. Wood is currently collaborating with Susanna Pshizova on co-authoring a white paper entitled “Politics as Business: The Commodification of Democracy in the Former Soviet Union.”