Dr. Mila Mikalay at the European Union Studies Association

UCF Governance lecturer, Dr. Mila Mikalay, presented her latest research on Russian foreign policy at the European Union Studies Association conference, May 8-11 in Philadelphia, PA. This biannual conference is the best occasion for scholars of Europe and European Union from Europe and North America to share work with their colleagues and discuss new projects. This time, Mila Mikalay presented two papers, focusing on the under-studied dimension of EU-Russia relations – parliamentary discourse on Russia’s place in Europe and their “shared neighborhood” (Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine, etc.).

Parliaments remain a key institution in democracies and autocracies, that is however often misunderstood by European studies and international relations scholars. After all, even the Habsburg empire had a parliament, which provided political and narrative space for the emperor’s decision-making, as the discussant of one panel noted. The funding for the conference participation was generously provided by the University College Freiburg.