"Liberal Democracies in Eastern and Central Europe and the Balkans" Task Force

Currently, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans are undergoing a major turning point due to external factors such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and internal developments such as transformations in their democratic regimes. This task force will closely monitor and study trends in the foreign policies and domestic regimes of the Central and Eastern European and Balkan countries.

Activity records

Members

Ryo NAKAI

Professor

Specialised in comparative politics (party politics and elections, nationalism and ethnic issues).
Obtained PhD in 2012. He worked as an assistant at Waseda University, a JSPS Research Fellow, an assistant professor at Rikkyo University and associate professor at the Department of Policy Studies, The University of Kitakyushu before assuming his current position on April 1, 2024.

Yuma TANAKA

Project Researcher (2023-2024) 

Yuma Tanaka was a Project Researcher at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology’s Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES), the University of Tokyo. Before joining ROLES, Yuma was an Attaché for the Political Section at the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine. He was also previously a Project Officer for the East/Central Asia and Caucasus Department at Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). He also worked as an Attaché for the Economy and Economic Cooperation Section at the Embassy of Japan in Kazakhstan through 2017 to 2020. Yuma holds a M.A. from the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanity and Sociology, and a B.A. from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Tsuyoshi GOROKU

Associate Professor, Faculty of International Politics and Economics, Department of International Politics and Economics, Nishogakusha University
Specialised in the history of US-European relations and European security.

Assistant Professor at Keio University Graduate School of Law (research fellowship), researcher at EU Studies Institute in Tokyo (EUSI) (stay in Ukraine), part-time lecturer at the Maritime Self-Defence Force Staff College, before becoming a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of International Politics and Economics, Nishimatsu Gakusha University (2017-2022), current position from April 2022. . He is also a visiting researcher at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) (2017-) and a research member of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) (2017-). 

Michitaka HATTORI

Professor of Laboratory of Slavic-Eurasian Studies, Hokkaido University
Specialises in the economic and political situation in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the former Soviet Union.
After working as an expert researcher at the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Belarus and as the director of the Russian NIS Trade Association and the Russian NIS Institute, he has been in his current position since October 2022.

Atsuko HIGASHINO

Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Specialised in international relations theory, European international politics, EU Eastern enlargement and external relations.

Yoshihisa NISHIYAMA, Ph.D.

Project Assistant Professor  at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), the University of Tokyo.
Russian politics, historical awareness, nationalism
After working as a part-time lecturer at Chikushi Jogakuen University, The University of Kitakyushu and University of Nagasaki, he became a specially-appointed assistant professor at Hokkaido University's Organisation for International Cooperation before assuming his current position.

Kohei IMAI

Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization

Publications