Executive Director, Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), Sofia
Occupation
2007 - 2008
Head of the Sofia office of the European Council on Foreign Relations
1998 - 2007
Chair of the Department of Political Science of the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
1997
Director of the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), independent public policy and research institution, associated on contract basis with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia
1997 - 1998
Rector - President of the Varna Free University
1993 - 1995
Associate Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science, St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia (from September 1993)
1987
Senior Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Sofia
1982
Assistant Professor of Political Sociology, University of Sofia
Grants and Fellowships
October 1999
Six weeks fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. – the Program for Eastern Europe;
February 1994
Two weeks grant by Friedrich Naumann Fund for liberal politics (Germany) for a seminar on building political strategies, in Sintra - Portugal;
September 1991
Ten months (full academic year) Fulbright fellowship in International Relations at the University of California - Los Angeles;
January 1986
Five months (one semester) fellowship in the Department of Philosophy at the Lomonossov State University of Moscow - USSR;
Positions of Public Service
June 1998
Chairman of the Board - Bulgarian National Chapter of Transparency International (TI);
January 1997
Member of the Open Society Fund Board of Trustees - Sofia. Bulgaria;
December 1996
Member of the Open Society East - East Program Expert Board - Sofia, Bulgaria
December 1994
Member of the Public Committee for Elections Monitoring in Bulgaria;
November 1994
Member of an International Monitoring Group for the 1994 Election in the US, organized by the American Council of Young Political Leaders;
October 1993
Member of the Euro-Atlantic Foundation Board in Sofia - Bulgaria;
September 1992
Member of the Executive Council of the International Helsinki Citizens' Assembly - an International Civic Movement and Human Rights Watch;
March 1991
Chair of the Bulgarian Committee of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly;
Education and Degrees
January 1990
Doctor of Sociological Science (Habilitated Doctor of Science), including Ph.D., from the University of Sofia and the State Council of Degrees;
July 1982
MA - Sociology, University of Sofia - Bulgaria (June 1981 - BA);
June 1977
English Language High School - Varna, Bulgaria;
Basic Fields of Research and Lecturing Interests
1. Basic trends of change in the international system in the Post Cold War period.
2. Comparative post Cold War nationalism and ethnic conflict. Comparative regional studies.
3. Comparative Balkan and Post Soviet crises. Culture, ethnicity and religion as means of political legitimization. ‘Weak states’ and institutional challenges of post communism.
4. Security Dilemmas of Post Communism. NATO enlargement.
5. Comparative social and political change in post communist Central and Eastern Europe. Democratization Paradigm vs. Paradigm of Development.
6. Strategic implications of regional infrastructure development in Central and Southeastern Europe;
7. Corruption and transformation policies of the post communist world.