The Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS is delighted to announce Ivan Ulises Kentros Klyszcz as our new Research Fellow and Rüüt Kaljula as a Junior Research Fellow.
Kristi Raik, Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS: “Both Russia and China are powers that challenge Western democracy and rules-based international order. Ivan’s strong expertise on Russia and Rüüt’s on China bring a much needed strengthening of our work on the foreign policies and domestic developments of the two countries, so I am delighted to welcome them to the team of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at ICDS.”
Ivan Ulises Kentros Klyszcz, Research Fellow of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS: “I am very excited to join the excellent EFPI/ICDS team. As Research Fellow, I will contribute to the activities of the institute with my research on Russia’s foreign and domestic politics. In particular, I will give special attention to Russia’s engagements with the Global South and its implications for Europe. These are important topics and I am happy to work on them as part of this outstanding institution.”
Rüüt Kaljula, Junior Research Fellow of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS: “I am delighted to join EFPI/ICDS as a junior research fellow. My research focuses on China’s domestic and foreign policy, Estonia-China relations, China’s influence activities and East Asian relations. China’s rise on the global arena has strong implications both for Estonia and Europe, therefore this topic needs ever more attention by the academia. I am glad that I can contribute to the rise of awareness of China’s activities and to be part of this excellent research institution.”
Ivan U. K. Klyszcz is a Polish-Mexican doctoral candidate at the University of Tartu. He holds an IM from the University of Glasgow and an MA from his current institution, and has additional studies in Moscow and Mexico City. At Tartu, he has submitted for review a doctoral thesis exploring the effects of violent conflict on sub-state international relations with cases from the North Caucasus Russian federal subjects. Other research interests of his are Russian foreign policy and territorial autonomy in Eurasia.
Rüüt Kaljula joined the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS in August 2022 after completing a month-long internship at EFPI. His research is focused on China’s domestic and foreign policy, Estonia-China relations, China’s influence activities and East Asian relations. Kaljula holds a BA from Mainor Business School (cum laude) and has studied Corporate Finance at Tallinn University of Technology. He has also studied at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and National Taiwan Normal University. He has gained experience working in the banking sector and also as a translator. Currently he is studying in Asian Studies programme at Tallinn University.