ABOUT US
Eastern Circles is a French think tank with a mission to shed light on the geopolitics of energy and defense in Eastern Europe, focusing on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.
Our mission is to explain to policy and business decision-makers the changing nature of regional geopolitics and their impact on the future of European defense and energy security, and on the global system of alliances.
We fulfill it through analytical writing, discussion series on how Ukraine war changed the world, and applied projects building people-to-people contacts for an in-depth understanding on Ukraine and the nature of this war.
CROSS-SECTION OF THREE APPROACHES
Industries in focus
GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
ADVISORY BOARD
Ukrainian literary scholar, journalist, essayist, she graduated from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University. In 2002 she received a scholarship from the French government to study at the Paris XII Val-de-Marne University, and in 2007 she defended her dissertation and acquired PhD in Literary Studies at the same university. Since 2006 she has been teaching History of French Literature, Theory of Literature and History of European Literary Avant Garde in Kyiv Mohyla Academy. In 2013-2013 she actively supported events on the Maidan. Since then, apart from academia and teaching, she is engaged in public and journalistic activity: in 2014-2015 she wrote a series of publications for The Ukrainian Pravda; since 2015 she has been coordinating the international department of the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center, where she prepares texts about Ukraine for the foreign audience.Since the full-scale invasion, Tetyana has travelled Ukraine extensively with PEN Ukraine and led Ukraine on Fire podcast in FR and EN.
Velina Tchakarova is an expert in Russia-China relations and runs a geopolitics consultancy. Before that, she was Director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES) and Peer Board Member of the Defence Horizon Journal. She is a lecturer at the Real World Risk Institute led by the best-selling author Nassim Taleb and a Member of the Strategic and Security Policy Advisory Board of the Science Commission at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence.
Velina Tchakarova holds a M.A. from Heidelberg University, Germany, and BA from the University for World and National Economy, Bulgaria.
Velina is invested in many Global South fora in India, China and in Africa, and has advised EC on the Global South Fellowship, in addition to editing Russia-China relations report for MinArm.
Tomas is a graduate of Ecole Nationale Supperieure des Techniques Avancees (ENTSTA) in Paris and holds an MSc. in Technical Cybernetics from Czech Technical University. He spent 7 years at EDF R&D in Paris working on mathematical models for power planning, trading, risk and valuation. Subsequently he worked as a subject matter expert in mathematical optimization at Sapient Global Markets based in London, working for energy trading clients in Switzerland and the US. He was also part of a proprietary trading team of the Slovak gas incumbent, SPP. In his current role, Tomas initiates, coordinates and leads various strategic initiatives at Slovenske Elektrarne ranging from asset backed trading enhancements, investment projects in new flexibility with a budget of 200+ m EUR and company strategy. Tomas also coordinates the response for strategic planning documents such the TYNDP, NDP, INECP, European energy such legislation as market design and is a member of working groups at Eurelectric and Nuclear Europe.
Dounia Ayadi is a French entrepreneur specializing in property insurance. After graduating with a degree in Business & Management from MiddleSex University in London, Dounia AYADI set up ADB RISK, an insurance brokerage firm specializing in property insurance, in 2016. After the ADB RISK firm has experienced growth thanks to business conquest methods based on prospecting and creating partnerships, Dounia sold it and is now running a medical start-up. Dounia has followed Eastern Circles development from the early days and has advised on reach-out, communications strategies and pricing.
NON-RESIDENT FELLOWS
Clotilde Warin is an associate fellow on democracy issues at Jacques Delors Institute and at the think tank Euro Créative. She was an advisor at CAPS (Centre for Analysis, Planning and Strategy), the Policy Planning of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2020-2025), where she monitored issues related to the rule of law, the rise of illiberalism in Europe, the enlargement of the European Union, the Eastern Neighborhood Policy, and the Western Balkans. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of the Review of the think tank Confrontations Europe. She has also conducted research on European migration policy for the Clingendael Institute. Her articles have been published in the London Review of Books, Foreign Policy and XXI. She graduated from Sciences Po Paris and the CFJ (Centre de Formation des Journalistes) in Paris.
French journalist based in Tbilisi for the past 21 years, covering extensively the region for Le Figaro and other French media, co-author of the Wagner report
Dr. Swasti Rao is a geopolitical expert Commentator and Author. She was Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(MP-IDSA), India’s premier think tank under the aegis of Ministry of Defence. At MP-IDSA, Swasti had worked on projects for Ministry for External Affairs and Ministry of Defence on European geopolitics and geo-economics. Herresearch project at MP-IDSA has been on Conflicts in Europe amidst Shifting Power Structures and Europe’s Indo Pacific outreach.
Recognized as a “Geopolitical Expert” by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, India, for the G20 Summit in 2023, Dr. Rao was also honored as one of the under-40 Young Leaders by EICBI for substantiating India-Europe relations. She is affiliated with the EU-India Women’s Council and serves as a reviewer for the peer reviewed publications by National Maritime Foundation (NMF), India, and Royal United Servic
Secretary-General of NAKO, or the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, Ukrainian NGO created by Transparency International in 2017; Member of the Anti-Corruption Council of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry; she used to hold a director position in Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
Velina Tchakarova holds a M.A. from Heidelberg University, Germany, and BA from the University for World and National Economy, Bulgaria.
Velina is invested in many Global South fora in India, China and in Africa, and has advised EC on the Global South Fellowship, in addition to editing Russia-China relations report for MinArm.
One of the founders and executive director of the Ukrainian think-tank “Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”. Founded in 2015 Ukrainian Prism is a leading non-governmental research and advocacy institution in field of foreign policy of
Ukraine and international security. Maksak is also a part of the Ukraine and Eastern Europe Programme at GLOBSEC Policy Institute in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Fields of expertise: International relations and foreign policy of Ukraine, security in Eastern Europe, Eastern partnership policy, European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, diplomatic service, expert diplomacy, economic diplomacy.
Florent Parmentier (@florentparmenti) is a professor strategic foresight at Sciences-Po and is Secretary General of CEVIPOF. He holds a PhD in political science and is a research associate at the HEC Center for Geopolitics. He is a regular speaker on national and international media, radio and television.
MEDIA FELLOWS
ALUMNI
Elina Sverdlova is a global health and international security policy expert with 15 years of experience in development and conflict zones.
Alexandre Foskett is a master’s degree student at the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs, specializing in security and defense issues as well as economics.
He has experience in both the public and private sectors having worked for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kyiv and for an M&A boutique in London.
His languages are English, French and Russian.
Former co-founder and vice-president of Eastern Circles, Gabrielle has spent several years in the post-Soviet region where she has worked for the French Ministry of Armed Forces and the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Enjoying a strong understanding of the relationship between the public and private sectors, her fields of interest include security issues on the region, defense economics, frozen conflicts, energy and digitalisation.
With a strong academic background in social sciences and methodology of research, she has been a visiting student at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) before graduating from Sciences Po Paris – Master in Public Affairs, with a major in Security and Defense Policies
Former Secretary, Dylan has five years of experience as a strategy consultant for international financial institutions, international organizations, and the private sector. He is a Fellow at the Caucasus-Asia Center, focusing on the Greater Caucasus economic region. His expertise includes strategy development, project management, financial modelling, and economics in the energy, mobility, infrastructure, digital, and tourism sectors. Editor and author of articles on the post-Soviet space and geoeconomics, Dylan has degrees in applied economics, corporate finance, and international management from the University of Ghent, Vienna WU University, and the Graduate School of Management in St. Petersburg.
Having worked in the field of Research and Communication of Eastern Circles, Zhasmin Avetisyan is currently a postgraduate student in European Affairs with a policy stream “Europe in the World” at Sciences Po Paris. She has worked as a research assistant at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), where she built experience on corruption practices in Eastern Europe. Her interest in the post-Soviet region is based on both personal experience and the focus of her undergraduate degree at University College London (UCL), which combined training in politics, international relations, and sociology with specialist modules on Russia and Eastern Europe.
Former expert, he is an international professional with experience in EU civilian crisis management, government, NGO focusing on diplomacy (conflict prevention, dialogue, mediation), programme management, governance, and engaging with conflict-affected population. Trak II peacebuilding experience in international NGO focusing on exploring entry points for dialogue through trust and relationship building activities to prevent and resolve conflicts. Managed conflict prevention and mediation projects supporting European peace-making in the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Turkey), Eastern Europe (Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia).
Dimitar graduated from Sciences Po Paris and the College of Europe in Bruges. In addition to English and French, he speaks Russian, Spanish, and Bulgarian.
Former expert, Eleonore has worked as a consultant to the French government. She has experience working for the French diplomatic mission to the South-Caucasus, where she built expertise on Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Her work expertise includes human capital development, European technical assistance to public administrations, and military-industrial cooperation in the Black Sea region. European Neighborhood Policy expert, Eleonore graduated from the College of Europe and the University of Geneva in European affairs.
Irene has worked as an expert for Eastern Circles. After a three-year degree in Philosophy at the University of Perugia, Irene participated in several international experiences in the field of human rights protection. During her master’s degree in International Cooperation and Human Rights Protection (unibo), she spent about two years in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she studied and researched at Tbilisi State University.
In the latest years, she has studied politics and conflicts of the South Caucasus, with a focus on the integration of the ethnic minorities in Georgia, the main subject of her thesis work.
Since September 2020 she has been working at Civil Forum which deals with peace building and post conflict reconstruction.
She has a strong interest in the issues related to post-Soviet politics, which she tries to enrich as much as possible. For Eastern Circles, she is also graphic designer.
Charlotte Souyris is currently a master student at the Paris School of International Affairs in Sciences Po Paris, focusing on international relations in the post-Soviet space. Having travelled in the Caucasus and Central Asia, she has experienced working in both the cultural and business sectors, at the French institute and the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Georgia. Being specialized in economics since her bachelor, she has been a visiting student at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow in 2020-2021
Master of Economic Sciences. Graduated from BNTU (Belarus,2010), The Academy of Public Administration (Belarus,2015), VDU (Lithuania, 2022). Alumni: School of Young Managers of Public Administration, East-European School of Political Studies, International School of Eurasian Integration, WEASA. Researcher in the scientific organization, data analyst at NGOs, lecturer. Participated in the development of investment programs, programs for the development of foreign economic activities, sectoral development programs and structural reforms programs, feasibility studies for the establishment of integrated structures (holdings). Participated in international projects on the development of social accountability. Author and co-author of more than sixty publications in collections of reports, articles in scientific and specialized publications of Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, France, Lithuania. Research interests: foreign economic activity, transformation processes in the economy, structural reforms. Languages: Russian, Belarusian, English.
Stanislas de Bourmont holds a degree in History and Geography from the Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP). He is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Geopolitics at the Institut Français de Géopolitique (Université Paris VIII). Passionate about energy, he wrote his master’s thesis on the geopolitics of oil in Kazakhstan. Since 2021, he is also a junior expert associated with Eastern Circles, for which he continues to focus on regional energy issues (Central Asia, Caspian Sea and Caucasus).
A 3d-year student in political science with a concentration on Eastern European political institutions. Shota has been an active Model United Nations Society Paris Nanterre (MSPN) member since
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