Nona Mikhelidze

Nona Mikhelidze is a Senior Fellow at the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Rome. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa), and an M.A. in Regionalism: Central Asia and Caucasian Studies from Humboldt University Berlin (HU). Since 2020, she has been writing for the newspaper La Stampa, focusing on Russia and the post-Soviet space. She is also a member of the European Leadership Network (ELN), an independent, non-partisan, pan-European network consisting of European leaders who work to provide practical real-world solutions to political and security challenges. Her research interests include the EU and Eastern Neighbourhood, as well as Russia and its foreign policy in the post-Soviet space. She frequently appears as a commentator on Italian TV and radio channels, discussing issues related to the Russian war against Ukraine. In 2023, she was awarded The Viareggio Prize as the journalist of the year for her significant contribution to the public debate on the war.