On 2 October, IAIS will host a research seminar titled “Understanding Economic Sanctions through a Regionalism Lens”, featuring Iana Ovsiannikova, PhD Fellow at Ghent University and the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), who is now undertaking a short-term visiting PhD fellowship at IAIS.

The seminar will examine the growing use of economic sanctions by states and regional organisations and their implications for global governance and neighbouring regional actors. The presentation will address the rationale behind economic sanctions and explain how a regionalism perspective can contribute to understanding their political and economic effects. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Central Asia, the speaker will also discuss how political and economic actors adapt to sanctions-related pressures and changing geoeconomic conditions.

Iana Ovsiannikova is a PhD Fellow at Ghent University and UNU-CRIS, where her research focuses on regionalism and regional sanctions governance, with particular attention to Central Asia and Africa. She holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe and a BA in International Relations from Moscow State Linguistic University. Her research interests include economic sanctions, regionalism, human rights accountability, multilateral institutions and the role of regional organisations in governance. She has conducted fieldwork in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Côte d’Ivoire and Geneva and has presented her research at academic institutions and conferences across Europe and Central Asia.

Date and time: Friday, October 2, 11:00 AM

Venue: IAIS Conference Hall