Home Team Team Natalia Iost

Natalia Iost

I studied Political and Social Sciences and Jewish Studies at the Universities of Ulyanovsk, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart. From 2014 to 2016, I worked as a student assistant in different departments of the Institute for Social Sciences in Stuttgart and from 2017 until 2018 at the College for Jewish Studies in Heidelberg. During my studies in Heidelberg I did a two-month research stay in Israel, where I conducted expert interviews with peacekeeping and reconciliation organizations and representatives of different minority groups. Since 2018, I have been working as a research associate at the Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies at the University of Greifswald. Since March 2021, I am a member of the Research Group ‘Baltic Peripeties. My research fields are the Baltic Sea Region, Russian foreign policy, hard and soft securities, conflict and conflict resolution. 

University of Greifswald

IRTG Baltic Peripeties
Anklamer Str. 20
17489 Greifswald
Germany

Room: 0.10
+49 3834 420 3593
natalia.iost@uni-greifswald.de

Department of Political Science & Communication Studies

The Influence of Russia-related Critical Junctures on Its Standing in the Baltic Sea Region

In my current research, I am concentrating on relations between the Baltic States and Russia, analyzing how international crises with Russian involvement influence the security architecture in the Baltic Sea Region. In particular, I am exploring the question of how Russia is securitized in the narratives of the Baltic States and how historical memory influences such narratives.

  • (with Margit Bussmann) “Presidential Popularity and International Crises: An Assessment of the Rally-‘Round-the-Flag-Effect in Russia, 2000-2020,” Post-Soviet Affairs, November 25, 2023: 105-118, https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2023.2280409.
  • (with Margit Bussmann) “Signals of Resolve or a Shortcut? Border and Air Space Violations in the Baltic Sea Region,” Journal of Baltic Studies (2021): 1-19, https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2021.1998167
  • “The Influence of Critical Junctures with Russian Involvement on its Standing in the Baltic States. The Analysis of Narratives and Public Perceptions,” Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus regional research seminar, University of Malmö, March 12, 2024.
  • “The Construction of Dominant Security Narratives in the Baltic States,” 11th Narrative Matters conference Instrumental Narratives: Narrative Studies and the Storytelling Boom, co-organized by the Instrumental Narratives consortium project, SELMA: Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory, and Narrare: Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies, Tampere University, June 15-17, 2023.
  • “‘Explaining Major Changes’. The Theoretical Framework for International Relations,” international workshop The Same Event? Morphologies, Reflections, Disseminations, organised by the IRTG Baltic Peripeties. Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes, Institute for Cultural Research, University of Tartu, December 15-17, 2022.
  • “How Did the Threat Discourse Contribute to the Construction of the New Baltic Security Architecture?,” Interdisciplinary Centre for Baltic Sea Region Research (IFZO) annual conference Baltic Sea in Exchange. Transformations between Conflict and Cooperation, University of Greifswald, July 7-9, 2022.
  • (with Margit Bussmann and Igor Okunev) “Presidential Popularity Rates and International Crises: A Quantitative Assessment of the Rally-Round-the-Flag-Effect in Russia,” Sixth Annual Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies: Which Way is the Future? Progress and Tradition in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, University of Tartu, June 12-14, 2022.
  • “The Politics of Peripeties. ‘Narratives of Threat’ and the Emergence of a New Security Architecture in the Baltic Sea Region,” 28th Biennial AABS Conference Baltic Studies at a Crossroads, organized by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS), Seattle, WA, May 27-29, 2022.
  • “Irreversible Actions in Politics,” roundtable discussion in the joint lecture series Irreversible – The Manifestations of Change, University of Greifswald, May 19, 2022.
  • “International Responses to Putin’s Aggression: How Effective Are Military Deterrence, Economic Sanctions, and Diplomacy?,” roundtable discussion, University of Greifswald/online, March 9, 2022.
  • “Putin’s Popularity Rates and International Crises: A Quantitative Assessment of Diversionary Theory for Russian Foreign Policy,” 26th IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Lisbon/online, Portugal, July 10-15, 2021.
  • “The Influence of International Crises on Russian Soft Power,” fifth annual Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies Post-Socialist (dis)Orders, Tartu, Estonia, June 6-8, 2021.
  • “Signals of Resolve or Shortcut? Border and Air Space Violations in the Baltic Sea Region,” international online conference Border Fears in the Baltic 1918–1991, organised by the project Mare – Pomerania – Confinium, Kulice-Szczecin/online, Poland, May 27-29, 2021.

University studies and degrees

  • Since April 2021
  • Doctoral Researcher at the International Research Training Group “Baltic Peripeties. Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes” at the University of Greifswald.
  • 04/2016 – 09/2018
  • M.A. Studies: Political Science (major) and Jewish Studies (minor), University of Heidelberg and Center for Jewish Studies.
  • 10/2012 – 02/2016
  • B.A. Studies: Social Science, University of Stuttgart.
  • 09/2006 – 06/2011
  • Diploma in Political Science and Public Relations, Ulyanovsk State University, Ulyanovsk.

Professional background

  • 10/2018 – 03/2020
  • Research Associate at the Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies, Professor Margit Bussmann, Department of Political Science and Communication Studies, University of Greifswald.
  • 04/2017 – 04/2018
  • Research Assistant at the Center for Jewish Studies, Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Daniel Krochmalnik, Heidelberg.
  • 10/2014 – 08/2015
  • Research Assistant at the Conference of Equal Opportunities Officers at Universities and Academic Institutions in Baden-Württemberg (LaKoG), Stuttgart.
  • 09/2014 – 04/2016
  • Research Assistant at the Department of Sociology and Empirical Research, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Stuttgart.
  • 03/2014 – 09/2014
  • Research Assistant in the project “Impacts of Citizen Participation,” Department of Political Systems and Political Sociology, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Stuttgart.

Teaching

  • Winter 2019/20
  • Seminar “The Concept of Power in the International Relations,” Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies, University of Greifswald.
  • Winter 2018/19
  • Seminar “Russia in International Politics. Claim to Great Power Status and Resources,” Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies, University of Greifswald.
  • Summer 2019 / Summer 2020 / Winter 2019/20
  • Tutorial “Introduction to International Relations,” Chair of International Relations and Regional Studies, University of Greifswald.