An American expat living in Moscow (since 2008), brushing up on Russian, soaking up Russian culture, and observing Russian politics. No one else has blogged about something like this, right?

But seriously….

As an undergraduate in Political Science, my focus was primarily on Russia and the post-Soviet states. Later, my focus switched to the Middle East, which heavily influenced my graduate-level coursework. Both the Middle East and Eurasia are regions of great importance to the United States and thus, after much internal debate, I have decided to remain focused on both regions despite the challenge of staying in tune with such a wide territory. This decision conveniently allows me to maintain my personal interest in both the Middle East and Eurasia which is best expressed through this blog. As a further extension of my interest, I have been traveling throughout both regions. In the Middle East, I have visited Lebanon and Turkey, as well as having lived in Syria for nine months. I am currently based in Moscow and, over the next year, it is my intent to travel to neighboring countries in order to get a sense firsthand of life there. Concurrently, it is my wish to improve my levels of proficiency in both Arabic and Russian, as well as to pick up Farsi and Georgian at the very least. Upon my return from Moscow next summer, it is my intent to begin pursuing my PhD in International Relations so that I may further delve into the endlessly fascinating history and politics of the Middle East and Eurasia.