Patricija Romina Smolnikar
DPhil in Area Studies (Russian and East European Studies)
Patricija Romina Smolnikar is a DPhil student in Area Studies (Russia and East Europe) at St Antony's College. Her research focuses on political institutions, authoritarian governance, and elite politics in post-Soviet Central Asia, with a particular focus on Kazakhstan. She has a growing interest in critical minerals and resource governance in the region. Her previous research examined the relationship between formal and informal institutions in post-Soviet Russia, with a focus on how legal systems function under authoritarian governance. She holds an MSc in Emerging Economies and International Development from King's College London, where she graduated with Distinction, and has additional experience in migration, policy analysis, and qualitative methods.
Research Disciplines:
- Political Science
- Institutional Theory
- Political Economy
- Area Studies
Research Keywords:
- Regime change, institutions, political economy, post-Soviet studies, Eurasian politics, comparative authoritarianism
Countries:
- Kazakhstan and Russia, situated withing the broader post-Soviet Eurasian context
Research Cluster: