Vasili Rukhadze is a Visiting Lecturer of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He specializes in Comparative Politics and International Relations with area focus on the former Soviet Union and post-communist Eastern and Central Europe.
Dr. Rukhadze holds a Ph.D. in political science from Kent State University (2014) and an M.A. degree in political science from the City University of New York (2002). In 2007-2008, he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, conducting academic research on the prospects of establishing new energy routes from the Caspian Sea basin to the European Union. In 2010, he served as a Chairman of the Georgian Truth Commission, overseeing a large scale research project, from its inception to its completion, about Georgia’s historical experiences under Tsarist and communist rule. In 2012-2018, he was a Political Analyst at the Washington, D.C. based research and analysis institution, Jamestown Foundation. Dr. Rukhadze is also the founder of Summer Institute of Politics in his country of birth, Georgia. The Institute is dedicated to training future democratic leaders in this post-Soviet nation.
Courses Taught
PS 1327 Politics of Revolution
PS 1386 Politics of Leadership
PS 1387 Politics of Water
PS 1431 Government and Politics of USSR and Russian Federation
PS 1510 Cold War
PS 1511 US Foreign Policy After WW II
PS 1521 Eastern Europe in World Politics
PS 1538 Politics of Oil
PIA 2306 Competing Perspectives on Global Energy
Education & Training
- PhD, Kent State University, 2014
Representative Publications
Books
The Causes of Post-Mobilization Leadership Change and Continuity: A Comparative Analysis of Post-Color Revolution in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. (2021).
Reflections from Washington: A Chronological Digest of Georgian Politics in 2012-2017. Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia: Glosa Publishing. (2017).
Tserilebi Amerikidan [The Letters from America]. Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia: Meridiani Publishing. (2017).
Articles
"Sovereignty Issues in the Caucasus: Contested Ethnic and National Identities in Chechnya, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia" (With Glen Duerr). Nationalities Affairs, 48: 30-47 (2016).
Working Papers
"Modern Urban Architecture in the Service of Semi-Authoritarian Regimes: Decoding the Unspoken Political Language in the Post-Soviet Georgia and Kazakhstan." To be Submitted to the Journal of Comparative Politics. (2022).
Research Interests
Regime Changes Comparative Political Institutions
Democratization Political Leadership
State-Building Processes Political Parties
Ethnic Conflicts Energy Politics
Interstate Wars Politics of Collective Memory