Igor Okunev
Ph. D. (Cand. Polit. Sc.) in Political Science, Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Politics
He received his B.A. (Specialist) in Linguistics & Intercultural Communication from St. Petersburg State University and M. A. in History from Manchester University, holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from MGIMO University.
He has been lecturing in Political Geography and Comparative Politics at MGIMO since 2010. Okunev is the author of two books: «Geopolitics of Microstates» and «Capital Cities in a Critical Geopolitics Mirror» and co-author of textbooks «Comparative Politics» and «World Regional Studies» (all in Russian). He is the executive secretary of a journal «Comparative Politics Russia» indexed in Web of Science. In 2014 Russian International Affairs Council recognized him the Best Young Journalist in International Relations.
Okunev has over 70 publications in Russian and English on political geography, geopolitics, federalism studies, and comparative politics.
He is Program Coordinator of the International Political Science Association Research Committee on Geopolitics (IPSA RC-41).
Main publications in English:
Space Imagination and Mixed Identity in Russian Towns Bordering on Finland // Human Geographies. — 2014. — Vol.8, No.2.
A Foreign Policy to Suit the Majority? The New Dimensions of Russia’s Geopolitical Code // Russia in Global Affairs. — 2013. — No.2.
Politics and Security in Post-Soviet Eurasia