Dr Peter Duncan

Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Russian Politics and Society

Email
p.duncan@ssees.ucl.ac.uk

Phone Number
020 7679 8762

Fax
020 7679 8777

I am a Political Scientist studying first the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation. I taught at Glasgow University as a part-time tutor, then became a temporary lecturer at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, before being appointed to the Soviet Foreign Policy Programme at Chatham House. Since 1988 I have been teaching contemporary Russian politics and foreign policy at SSEES.

Research Interests
In the field of Russian foreign policy, my book The Soviet Union and India provides a detailed analysis of a relationship between the USSR and a major partner in what was then known as the Third World. It provided a perspective on Gorbachev's foreign policy innovations, at a time when there was much debate as to where these would lead. In internal Russian politics, my contributions to the co-authored The Road to Post-Communism: Independent Political Movements in the Soviet Union, 1985-1991 explained the dynamics of change within the Russian Republic. My Russian Messianism brought together themes from the history of Russian philosophy and political thought, the internal evolution of the Russian state, and Russia's geopolitical role.

Teaching and supervision
I teach on Russian Foreign Policy and Russian Politics. I currently supervise research theses on Russia's relations with Yugoslavia, NATO, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Belarus, and also on the Russian Orthodox Church, Chechnia, centre-region relations in Russia and on Central Asia.

Current Research
My current research is on the relationship between internal change and foreign policy development in the Russian Federation, from El'tsin to Putin. This considers the rise and nature of Russian nationalism, the rise and fall of the oligarchs, the effects of leadership change and the impact of authoritarianism. I am writing a book on this for Routledge.

Recent Publications

This page last modified Wednesday 26 May 2010.