(Originally recorded 17th February - 1 week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine) This episode hosts a discussion on regional security, the role of the European Union, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and IR theories and concepts.

Neli Kirilova is a PhD candidate in International Relations and Security Studies at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary and a PhD Fellow at the European Doctoral School on CSDP, at the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). Her PhD research explores the geopolitical competition in the Black Sea region between Russia, Turkey and the EU, and the incompatible concept of power as a reason for international conflicts and security crises. As a visiting researcher at the Brussels School of International Studies at the University of Kent from April to October 2020, she developed a theoretical framework on contemporary balance of power theory, something which she applies to the Black Sea region. She undertook her expert interviews during a diplomatic traineeship at the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU between Nov 2017 and July 2018.
Neli Kirilova holds an International Masters degree in Russian, Central and East European Studies (University of Glasgow, UK), an MA in Political Science (Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary), an MA in International Relations: International Public Administration and a BA in International Relations (University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria). She pursued international exchange studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, and held visiting fellowships at the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in Baku, and the Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She successfully defended two MA theses: ‘The role of Russia within BSEC. Implications to regional diplomacy’ (2015) and ‘Energy diplomacy in the EU-Russia relations and the role of Bulgaria’ (2013).