Miriam Lanskoy

Miriam Lanskoy is Senior Director for Russia and Eurasia at the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2003 she was awarded a PhD in international affairs from Boston University for her dissertation on the Russian presidency, the Chechen wars, and social and political problems of the North Caucasus. She has fourteen years of experience in political analysis and democracy promotion in post-Soviet Eurasia and in 2005 became a term member in the Council on Foreign Relations. She has published articles in Journal of Democracy, SAIS Review, and The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs and has appeared on numerous panels and conferences to discuss political developments in Russia and Eurasia, testified in Congress, and appeared on the PBS Newshour.

In 2010, Dr. Lanskoy co-authored The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost with former Chechen Foreign Minister Ilyas Akhmadov. Called “balanced, honest and courageous” by Zbigniew Brzezinski, the book is a uniquely candid, inside account of Chechnya’s two wars against Russia, its interwar attempt to establish national institutions, and the splintering and eventual radicalization of the resistance. It also provides intimate portraits of key personalities within the Chechen leadership, including General Dzhokhar Dudayev, Shamil Basayev, and Aslan Maskhadov.