American University School of International Service
Faculty Profiles
Comparative & Regional Studies - Europe & Eurasia
Europe and Eurasia
Focus
The Europe and Eurasia
regional focus extends the
traditional focus on Western
Europe and the EU
eastward by including the
blend of European and
Asian cultures that has
shaped the development of
Russia and Central Eurasia.
This dynamic world region
includes Turkey, Russia and
other post-Soviet countries
that form the eastern
borderlands of Europe. The
course offerings in this
region focus on the
persistence of historical
tensions between
authoritarian and
democratic political
cultures, the diversity of
ethnic and other identities
in the region, and the
interconnectedness of
Europe and Eurasia in
policy areas such as energy
security and immigration.
Keith Darden
Professor Darden’s research focuses on nationalism, statebuilding, and the politics of Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia. His
forthcoming book, Resisting Occupation in Eurasia (Cambridge
University Press), explores the development of durable national
loyalties through education and details how they explain over a
century of regional patterns in voting, secession, and armed
resistance in Ukraine, Eurasia and the world. His award-winning
first book, Economic Liberalism and Its
Rivals (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
explored the formation of international
economic institutions among the postSoviet states, and explained why countries
chose to join the Eurasian Customs Union,
the WTO, or to eschew participation in
any trade institutions. Contact him at
ktdarden@american.edu .
Michelle Egan
Professor Michelle Egan teaches a variety of graduate courses
including: The European Union, Relations of West European
Nations, International Relations of Europe, Comparative
European Politics, Economics, and Society,
Transatlantic Relations, Multinationals
and Globalization, and Competition in an
Interdependent World. She is currently
working on a project at the Wilson Center
for the Global Europe Program. Check
out her new book, Single Markets: Economic
Integration in Europe and the United States.
Contact her at megan@american.edu .
Department of Comparative and Regional Studies
crs@american.edu
American University School of International Service
Sample Courses
Carole Gallaher
SIS 629: Comparative
European Politics
Professor Gallaher does research in two distinct areas—organized
violence by non-state actors and urban politics. In the first area,
on which she has spent more time examining the politics, internal
dynamics, and patterns of violence of militias, paramilitaries,
private military contractors, and drug
cartels among others. Check out her
book, After the Peace: Loyalist
Paramilitaries in Post-accord Northern
Ireland (Cornell 2007) it examines why
Loyalist paramilitaries took nearly a
decade after the 1998 peace agreement
to decommission their weapons and
stand down their armed units. Contact
her at caroleg@american.edu
- The course covers the
concepts and theoretical
approaches that make up
the analytical toolkit for
understanding and
analyzing European
politics.
SIS 653: U.S. Russia Post
Cold War Relations
- The course covers issues
of nuclear arms control,
non-proliferation,
expansion of NATO, trade
relations, energy and
environmental security,
regime change, and
human rights between
the United States and the
Russian Federation.
SIS 676: Energy and
Security in Europe and
Central Eurasia
- The course provides a
strategic overview of
European energy security,
the current and potential
future role for Eurasian
energy supplies, as well
as different scenarios for
long-term energy
solutions.
Cathy Schneider
Professor Cathy Lisa Schneider writes and teaches on urban
politics, comparative social movements, collective violence, urban
policing, criminal justice, immigration
and racial and ethnic discrimination in
Europe, the United States, and Latin
America. She is co-editor of Collective
Violence, Contentious Politics and Social
Change: A Charles Tilly Reader with
Ernesto Castaneda and Police Power and
Race Riots: Urban Unrest in Paris and New
York. Contact her at
cschnei@american.edu
Department of Comparative and Regional Studies
crs@american.edu