Experts on countries of origin by country

Barrister and academic, with vast research, publishing and advisory experience across Russian and CIS affairs; fluent in Russian

The Expert is a Country Expert and academic with extensive fieldwork expeirience and providing expert reports (100+) for more than 40 firms in the UK, US, Netherlands, and Canada with areas of expertise such as but not limited to:
- Authentication documents originating from countries of expertise
- Country reports on the indicated countries of expertise
- Minority groups, religious groups
- Political, social and cultural groups: LGBT
- Organized crime and mafia, state crime
- Extremist and violent groups, including religious groups
- Human rights violations
- Women issues: honor killing
- Human trafficking
- Psychiatry and prison conditions
- Disadvantaged groups e.g. children, minorities, mentally ill, disabled, terminally ill
- Availability of medical services
- State structure, military and security services
- Drug dealing and trafficking

Experienced scholar and consultant combining theoretical and practical skills of analysis, intelligence and policy advise with expertise in informal networks, organized crime, corruption, illicit trade, crime-terror nexus, policing and public sector reform

The Expert, Olga S. Levina, PhD, graduated St.Petersburg State University (Russia), faculties of psychology and management. In 1996 – 2008 was working as an organizational consultant for small and medium businesses, contributed to in-country and international programs aimed at socio-economic development in post-soviet Russia. In 1998 - 2015 as a social psychologist, a Co-founder and Development Director of the NGO Stellit she was part of a wide range of health research and prevention initiatives, working in collaboration with stakeholders and scientists from Russian regions, European countries and the U.S. Many of those projects were focused on injection drug users and their sex partners; imprisoned women; socially excluded, abused and neglected children; female sex workers and their sex partners; STI clinic patients; and law enforcement, health, and other professionals and structures across Russia and other post-soviet countries. Olga Levina has experience in development and evaluation of regional and institutional level projects and programs, contributed to over 70 scientific publications in Russia and internationally. In 2013-2014 she received post doctorate training at Yale School of Public Health. In 2015 immigrated to the U.S. and working as an independent consultant/… Read more

The Expert is an expert in autocratization, democracy, and rule-of-law institutions. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Diplomacy & World Affairs at Occidental College. His research and commentary have been published in highly regarded academic journals such as Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Democratization, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Europe-Asia Studies, and Russian Politics, among others. I have also contributed to popular publications such as The Washington Post.

His first book, Global Finance and Local Control: Corruption and Wealth in Contemporary Russia, was published by Cornell University Press in 2021 and received the co-winner of the 2023 Best Book Award given by the International Political Economy section of the International Studies Association. He holds a doctorate in Government from Cornell University and has taught at Wellesley College, the Cornell-in-Washington Program, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, and the Monterey Institute for International Studies. As a native of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, he studied Physics and Mathematics at Lyceum #61.

BBC journalist, film-maker and broadcaster with extensive experience of travelling to and investigating human rights abuses in Russia, including Chechnya, Belarus and other parts of the former USSR. Also considerable experience working with victims of human rights abuses in location in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Israel / Palestine, China, Turkey and Cuba.