Staff Profile

Co-Head of Politics (with Dr Maarja Luhiste)

Deputy Head of School of Geography, Politics & Sociology

Qualifications

PhD in Politics, University of Glasgow (2010)

Research interests 

• Identity and foreign policy;
• Collective memory and international politics;
• Identity and soft power;
• Russian foreign policy.

Research interests 

• Identity and foreign policy;
• Collective memory and foreign policy
• Identity and soft power;
• Russian foreign policy.

PhD supervision

I welcome applications for PhD supervision in any of the above areas.

Current PhD co-supervision:

Caveney-Holler, Drew (2024-present) 'Memory Proxy Wars: Identifying International Conflict in Local Mnemonic Practice' (Durham University, UK)

Liparteliani, Vladimir (2020-present) 'The Role of Russian and Western Soft Power in the 21st-Century Georgian Nation-Building' (Durham University, UK)

Past PhD co-supervision (completed PhD projects):

Bakalov, Ivan (2020) 'Setting Soft Power in Motion: Tracing the Mechanisms of Russian Soft Power in Ukraine' (BIGSSS: University of Bremen and Jacobs University, Germany)

Buyantueva, Radzhana (2019) 'The Trajectory of LGBT Rights Protest Activity in Russia, 2005-2017' (Newcastle University, UK)

Theys, Sarina (2018) 'The Soft Power of Non-Western Small States: The Cases of Bhutan and Qatar' (Newcastle University, UK)

Undergraduate Teaching

POL1032 'Key Concepts in International Politics'

Postgraduate Teaching

POL8064 'Politics of Memory'

• Articles

  • Feklyunina V, Robertshaw S, Bilsland J. Militarization of history and mnemonic habits in Putin’s Russia: pedagogy of war. Post-Soviet Affairs 2025, 41(3), 181-198.
  • Feklyunina V. Historical Analogies, Nuclear Mythmaking and Coercive Diplomacy in Putin’s Russia: Conjuring a ‘Sobering’ Crisis. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 2025, epub ahead of print.
  • Bilsland J, Feklyunina V, Wheeler C. Engaging with research methods in comparative politics courses: practicing skills, questioning data, reflecting on positionality. European Political Science 2023, 22, 228-242.
  • Feklyunina V. Soft Power and Identity: Russia, Ukraine and the 'Russian World(s)'. European Journal of International Relations 2016, 22(4), 773-796.
  • Barr M, Feklyunina V, (eds). Special Issue: The Soft Power of Hard States. Politics 2015, 35(3-4).
  • Barr M, Feklyunina V, Theys S. Introduction: The Soft Power of Hard States. Politics 2015, 35(3-4), 213-215.
  • Feklyunina V. Russia's International Images and its Energy Policy: An Unreliable Supplier?. Europe-Asia Studies 2012, 64(3), 449-469.
  • Feklyunina V. Russia's Foreign Policy Towards Poland: Seeking Reconciliation? A Social Constructivist Analysis. International Politics 2012, 49, 434-448.
  • White S, Feklyunina V. Russia's Authoritarian Elections: The View from Below. Europe-Asia Studies 2011, 63(4), 579-602.
  • Feklyunina V, White S. Preface. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 2011, 27(3-4), 335-337.
  • Feklyunina V, White S. Discourses of 'Krizis': Economic Crisis in Russia and Regime Legitimacy. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 2011, 27(3-4), 385-406.
  • White S, McAllister I, Feklyunina V. Belarus, Ukraine and Russia: East or West?. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 2010, 12(3), 344-367.
  • Feklyunina V. The Great Diversification Game: Russia’s Vision of the EU’s Energy Projects in the Shared Neighbourhood. Journal of Contemporary European Research 2008, 4(2), 130-148.
  • Feklyunina V. Battle for Perceptions: Projecting Russia in the West. Europe-Asia Studies 2008, 60(4), 605 - 629.

• Authored Book

  • White S, Feklyunina V. Identities and Foreign Policies in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus: The Other Europes. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

• Book Chapters

  • Feklyunina V. Russian Foreign Policy. In: Sakwa, R; Hale, HE; White, S, ed. Developments in Russian Politics 9. London: Macmillan International Higher Education, 2019, pp.165-179.
  • Feklyunina V, Romanova V. Ukraine and triangular diplomacy: Kyiv's legitimacy dilemmas in the midst of the crisis. In: Birchfield V; Young AR, ed. Triangular Diplomacy among the United States, the European Union, and the Russian Federation: Responses to the Crisis in Ukraine. Basingstoke: Springer International Publishing, 2018, pp.143-167.
  • Feklyunina V. International Norms and Identity. In: Tsygankov, A.P, ed. Routledge Handbook of Russian Foreign Policy. London, UK: Routledge, 2018, pp.5-21.
  • Feklyunina V. Image and Reality: Russia's Relations with the West. In: Kanet, RE; Freire, MR, ed. Russia and European Security. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Republic of Letters Press, 2012, pp.79-103.
  • Feklyunina V. Constructing Russophobia. In: Taras, R, ed. Russia's Identity in International Relations: Images, Perceptions, Misperceptions. Oxford: Routledge, 2012, pp.91-109.

• Edited Book

  • Feklyunina V, White S, ed. The International Economic Crisis and the Post-Soviet States. London: Routledge, 2013.

• Editorials

  • Coward M, Grayson K, Chisholm A, Clough E, Feklyunina V, Walton A. Reflecting On Our Strengths and Strategy. Politics 2016, 36(2), 115-117.
  • Coward M, Grayson K, Chisholm A, Walton A, Clough E, Feklyunina V. Editorial 2016. Politics 2016, 36(1), 3-4.
  • Coward M, Grayson K, Barr M, Clough E, Feklyunina V. Editorial 2015 – Diversity in Politics. Politics 2015, 35(1), 1-2.
  • Feklyunina V. Editor's Introduction: Investigating Change and Continuity in the Former Soviet Union. Politics 2014, 34(2), 125-125.
  • Coward M, Grayson K, Barr M, Clough E, Feklyunina V. Editorial: Politics in 2013 – The Changing Landscape of Academic Publishing. Politics 2013, 33(1), 1-4.
  • Coward M, Grayson K, Barr M, Clough E, Feklyunina V. Editorial: Future Challenges and Strategies for Politics. Politics 2012, 32(2), 65-68.

• Reports

  • Feklyunina V. Russia's Soft Power beyond the Post-Soviet Space. King's College London and Newcastle University, 2017. Assessing Russia's Power: A Report.
  • Kuhrt N, Feklyunina V, (eds). Assessing Russia's Power: A Report. King’s College London and Newcastle University, 2017.

• Reviews

  • Feklyunina V. Book Review: Andrew Wilson, 'Belarus: the last dictatorship in Europe' 2011. East European Politics 2014, 30(1), 151-152.
  • Feklyunina V. Explaining Foreign Policy: International Diplomacy and the Russo-Georgian War [Book Review]. Central Asian Survey 2013, 32(2), 225-226.

• Working Paper

  • Feklyunina V, Romanova V. Ukraine and Triangular Diplomacy: Kyiv’s Legitimacy Dilemmas in the midst of the Crisis. 2016, Working Paper GTJMCE-2016-1. Available at: http://www.inta.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/GTJMCE2016-1-Feklyunina&Romanova.pdf.