Alena is a second-year MARS-REERS student at Harriman.  She holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Political Science from the Free University of Berlin. Her academic interests focus on contemporary Russian politics, post-Soviet authoritarianism, and East European diasporas. Alena’s thesis investigates the factors influencing political behavior among the new Russian diaspora that formed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  For this research, she traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia and Vilnius, Lithuania, interviewing Russian migrants to explore how host countries’ migration policies shape processes of politicization.  In addition to her academic work, Alena is a freelance journalist and served as a Teaching Assistant for Professor Kimberly Marten.