Democratic Security Institute

02/03/2026

"While the discourse on peace and conflict in Georgia typically centers around the Russo-Georgian war and relations with the occupied territories, the concept of peace is far more nuanced than the mere absence of armed conflict. For Georgia, peace is a multifaceted phenomenon comprising three equally vital, interdependent, and concurrent dimensions: ensuring societal security, cultivating the perspective long-term peaceful coexistence with the Abkhazian and Ossetian communities, and resolving internal social fractures and violent domestic dynamics."

👇Read Medea Turashvili ‘s article

07/01/2026

📌 Check out Rusa Shelia’s blog jointly published by DSI and and Civicness Research Group at The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE

The war in Ukraine, now past its third year of full-scale invasion, delivers a daily torrent of violence -- missiles on civilian centers, front-line grinding, and the relentless toll of death. Yet, behind this "day-to-day litany of horrors," an analytical consensus is hardening among legal scholars,...

06/08/2025

One more piece about Russia's minorities and Russia's war in Ukraine by Maria Vyushkoba:

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2025/08/01/the-arctic-indigenous-peoples-and-russias-war-in-ukraine/

The paper is prepared within the Fellowship of Eurasian Democratic Security Network implemented by the Democratic Security Institute with the support of National Endowment for Democracy.

Austin,SJ Russia’s ethnic minorities are notoriously overrepresented in the death toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, the fact that Arctic Indigenous peoples of Russia’s North are among the hardest hit is often overlooked. The disproportionate fatalities have put the very existence of ma...

05/08/2025

Buryats and Russia's War on Ukraine by Maria Vyushkova

New blog by DSI and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE):

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2025/07/31/putins-militant-buryats-and-the-ukraine-war-myths-and-facts/

The paper is prepared within the Fellowship of Eurasian Democratic Security Network implemented by the Democratic Security Institute with the support of National Endowment for Democracy.

04/08/2025

EDSN fellow Leyla Latypova speaks about pro-democratic resistance in Russia.

Check out DSI's new blog published in conjunction with The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
👇
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2025/07/31/pro-democracy-resistance-is-all-over-russia-you-are-made-not-to-notice-it/

The paper is prepared within the Fellowship of Eurasian Democratic Security Network implemented by the Democratic Security Institute with the support of National Endowment for Democracy.

Austin,SJ ‘Each patch of these 236 hectares has heirs to them in the village; their ancestors owned these lands even before the Soviet collectivization of 1920’, a man from the Republic of Dagestan says in a video recorded outside a local mosque on a snowy February day. ‘We, residents of the v...

31/07/2025

"Energy has played a central role in shaping the political dynamics of the South Caucasus, significantly shaping its geopolitical terrain.... But there is far more to energy politics in the South Caucasus than pipelines and transit."

Check out a great piece by EDSN Fellow Rauf Mammadov published jointly by The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE and DSI 👇
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2025/07/30/energy-as-a-driver-of-politics-in-the-south-caucasus/

The paper is prepared within the Fellowship of Eurasian Democratic Security Network implemented by the Democratic Security Institute with the support of National Endowment for Democracy.

30/07/2025

A great piece by EDSN Fellow Olesya Vartanyan on "Nagorno-Karabakh and the Collapse of Russia’s Peacekeeping Mission: What Weak Mandates and Absent Guarantees Can Teach Us"

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2025/07/30/nagorno-karabakh-and-the-collapse-of-russias-peacekeeping-mission-what-weak-mandates-and-absent-guarantees-can-teach-us/

The blog is published by a joint cooperation of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Democratic Security Institute.

The paper is prepared within the Fellowship of Eurasian Democratic Security Network implemented by the Democratic Security Institute with the support of National Endowment for Democracy.

The recent failure of Russia’s peacekeeping mission in the South Caucasus underscores the necessity of a clear and robust mandate backed by coalition guarantees and aligned with international principles. Any agreements lacking firm guarantees risk the fate that befell the small Armenian-populated ...

11/06/2025

Check out Olga Tokaryuk’s new piece published by LSE in conjunction with DSI:

Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine forced millions of people to flee and become refugees. Ukraine’s economy and demographics were badly hit by this outflow. The government in Kyiv is desperate to bring its people back and has launched a new ministry to work with Ukrainians abroad. But refugees t...

05/03/2025

Odesa has always been more than just a footnote in Russian history—it’s a Ukrainian city with a rich, multicultural past. As Russia continues to bomb and erase its true identity, it’s vital to fight back against the imperial myths that have distorted its story for centuries. Odesa’s journey to reclaim its Ukrainian roots is a powerful act of resistance. Written by Nina Kuriata, a journalist and author, this article explores the battle for truth and identity:

While behind Ukraine’s physical front line, the port city of Odesa has become a focal point for the memory war now being waged by Moscow. The varied realities of life in the city over the past few centuries are still threatened by an essentially imperial narrative promoted by the Kremlin. Nina Kur...

24/01/2025

Geopolitical Spotlight: Georgia & Moldova

On January 29, LSE and the Democratic Security Institute dive into the challenges faced by Georgia and Moldova in the current Euro-Atlantic crisis. What does Trump’s second term mean for their security and European integration?

Featured Speakers:

Mihai Popșoi, Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova 🇲🇩
Dr. Natalie Sabanadze, Senior Fellow at Chatham House 🇬🇪
Alexander Scrivener, Research Director at DSI

Don’t miss this chance to hear from experts on the future of democracy and security in the region!

When: 29th January, 15:00 (London) / 19:00 (Tbilisi)
🔗 Register here:

Georgia and Moldova are on the ‘frontline’ of the crisis in Euro-Atlantic security. In Georgia, the contested victory of the ruling Georgian Dream party has raised questions about the nation’s democratic resilience and foreign policy orientation. Meanwhile, Moldova has seen contrasting fortune...

16/12/2024

https://demsecinstitute.org/?p=1229

03/12/2024

https://demsecinstitute.org/?p=1225