Currently I am at Central European University on research period abroad. I am writing up the bulk of my dissertation, assisting with a post-Soviet politics graduate course and am taking courses on democratization and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).
At IMT, I am working on reconceptualizing color revolutions in terms of struggles between elites for political succession, popular protests and opposition actions being only a byproduct, in some cases even an instrument, of elites with real power. For more information, please refer to "Research Interest" section of this page.
My reserach interest lie in comparative politics and political economy, with a regional focus on Central Asian countries, Caucasus and Russia. Out of comparative politics topics I am particularly interested in political risks analysis and security studies, popular protests, revolutions, rebellions and their effect on investment. In political economy I am interested in economic transformation of post-Soviet states, privatization processes in Central Asian countries, tax and exchange rate regimes.
I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree with summa cum laude from American University in Central Asia (Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic) specializing in international and comparative politics with macroeconomics minor.
For graduate degree I went to Central European University in Budapest, Hungary where I graduated with honors in political economy track, but defended a thesis in comparative politics (Kyrgyz Tulip Revolution: A Social Movement Theory Perspective - available here).
I contribute to analytic publications of several US and Italian thinks. Here are some of the contributions:
Cracks in Social Contract: Instability in Kazakhstan, Its Sources and Alternative Risks, March 2012, Policy Brief no. 217, Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/PB_217_2012.pdf
The Kyrgyz Presidential Elections: A Historic Step Towards Exclusive Democracy?, November 2011, Analysis Paper no. 80 for Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/Analysis_80_2011.pdf
Kazakhstan's Presidential Elections 2011: Nazarbayev postpones succession, May 2011, Analysis Paper no. 51 for Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/Analysis_51_2011.pdf
Kyrgyzstan: Tracking Russia's Assistance Package to Bishkek, February 17, 2009, EurasiaNet, http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav021809.shtml
Kyrgyzstan's New Tax Code: A Mixed Blessing?, March 11, 2009, Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5062
Scary Statistics: The State of Schools in Kyrgyzstan, April 22, 2009, Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5087
Failed Coup Raises Additional Questions About Stability in Kyrgyzstan, August 19, 2010, Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/5386
I keep a blog on post-Soviet politics called Lost in Transition at http://rahmetoff.blogspot.com/
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Research Interest
Dissertation title: Uprising by the Rich: Networks and Oligarchs in Color Revolutions
Punchline: The events termed as color revolutions are more a result of competition between propertied elites than geniune grassroots uprisings. Therefore more attention should be given to consolidation of authoritarianism rather than emergence of opposition and civil society. Patterns of elite competition are characterized, among others, by patterns of property owndership, which in turn were shaped by levels of privatization in the early 90s.
Methodology: Case study (Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Russia), process tracing using primary and secondary
data. Possible use of some quantiative methods (e.g. a hierarchical
model) and QCA to test hypotheses.
A more detailed description is available HERE
(to be updated)