From September to December 2025, Mikhail Polianskii, Postdoctoral Researcher in the International Institutions Research Department, will be a visiting scholar at the Centre for European Studies (CES) at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
During his stay, Mikhail will continue his research on transatlantic security relations. His work will focus in particular on the interplay between Russia's strategic withdrawal from European security structures and the transformation of transatlantic relations. He will also teach a graduate seminar on “Russia and the West: Hybrid Warfare and Transatlantic Security.”
At PRIF, Mikhail works on the PATTERN research project, which examines the transfer of Cold War lessons to contemporary challenges. In his recently published PRIF Spotlight “Digital Turning Point: Active Cyber Defense as a Response to Russia's Hybrid Warfare,” he shows how the new German government can strengthen Germany's cyber resilience in the face of the growing threat of state-sponsored cyber operations.
The guest stay is made possible by the Konrad Adenauer Visiting Scholarship on Transatlantic Relations, a joint initiative of the CES and the Canadian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS). Further information on the Konrad Adenauer Visiting Scholarship can be found at the CES website.
The PRIF Spotlight is available online as a free PDF download.