Dr Matveeva joined the Russia Institute as a Senior Visiting Research Fellow in 2022. She works as an academic and a practitioner, specialising in conflict and peace studies, peacebuilding and involvement of the post-Soviet citizens in violent extremism at home and abroad, having published extensively on these themes. The geographical remit of her interests covers conflicts in Ukraine, Syria, the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as Russian policy towards them, while her initial research background is in Afghanistan. Dr Matveeva has worked for the United Nations and lived in Central Asia in her capacity as the UNDP Regional Adviser on Peace and Development. In 2010, Dr Matveeva headed the Research Secretariat of the international Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission. She presently acts as a consultant to international organisations, such as the UN, the EU and bilateral donors, and for international non-governmental organisations. Previously she was a Research Fellow at Chatham House, worked at the London School of Economics and headed programmes at International Alert and Saferworld. She is also a board member of Nonviolent Peaceforce, an international NGO headquartered in Geneva.
The Israel-Hamas war benefits Russia, but so would playing peacemaker
Oct 31, 2023 09:21 am UTC| Insights & Views
The recent official visit to Moscow by representatives from Hamas and Iran was roundly condemned by Israel. A spokesperson for Israels foreign ministry called the visit an obscene step that gives support to terrorism and...
Ukraine war: how Russians are rallying on the home front to support 'their boys'
Jul 27, 2023 08:49 am UTC| Politics
Theres a discernible enemy-at-the-gate feeling among ordinary people on the streets of Russia. Their sons are being sent off to fight and some have died. Meanwhile, the cross-border raids from Ukraine on Russias...
May 26, 2023 14:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views
After a year of war in Ukraine it has become commonplace among western commentators to argue that the war is deeply rooted in the Russian mentality, history and culture. Russians, it is said have an imperial...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight