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RusLab

The Russia Observatory (RUSLAB) is a dedicated research hub for the study of Russia, its domestic politics, historical trajectories, and international role, combining academic rigour with policy-relevant analysis and public-facing outputs. The research is situated within the broader debate on post-liberal contestation and the transformation of the international order.

RuLAB’s work aims to integrate close analysis of domestic governance, political economy, and social dynamics with a strong historical perspective rooted in Soviet and imperial legacies. It also examines how past institutional configurations, political cultures, and identity narratives continue to shape contemporary Russian politics and society.

Thematically, the Observatory covers four main interconnected areas:

Domestic politics and society — governance structures, center–periphery relations, regional identities, social stratification, ideological, religious and cultural evolutions, and the interaction between elites and the Russian society.
Russia–Europe relations — historical entanglements, energy interdependence, security architecture, and the reconfiguration of ties under war and sanctions.
The Eurasian space — relations with neighboring states, regional integration, and alignments involving China, Turkey, India, and other major Global South actors.
Global footprint — Russia’s political, economic, and security presence in Africa, the Middle East, and Russia’s role in reshaping the broader international order.

Head of Unit

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Paolo Glisenti

Paolo Glisenti is a journalist, international strategist, and expert in communication and large-scale event management, known for his leadership as Italy’s Commissioner General for Expo 2020 Dubai and Expo 2025 Osaka–Kansai. With a background in economic and financial journalism in London, New York, and Italy, he held senior executive roles in major multinational companies—including News Corp Europe and Montedison USA—and served on the boards of listed firms across media, telecoms, and pharmaceuticals. Founder of PGConsultants, he has advised governments, institutions, and corporations on communication strategies and international bids, playing a pivotal role in Milan’s successful campaign for Expo 2015, for which he was awarded the Knighthood of Merit of the Italian Republic. His work blends public diplomacy, strategic vision, and deep industry knowledge, making him a key figure in Italy’s global outreach and event diplomacy.
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Raffaele Marchetti

Raffaele Marchetti (Laurea, Rome-La Sapienza; PhD, London-LSE) is Deputy Rector for Internationalization and Professor in International Relations at the Department of Political Science and the School of Government of LUISS. His research interest concerns global politics and governance, hybrid and city diplomacy, transnational civil society, (cyber-)security and political risk, and democracy.

He acts as external expert for the European Commission and other public/private institutions on issues of global governance, public policies, civil society, and security. He is ISA’s United Nations-NGO Representative (2022-2024). He is also member of the editorial board of The International Spectator, the Academic Advisory Board of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), LabGov – the LABoratory for the GOVernance of the City as a Commons, International Institute for Social and Economic Studies (IISES). He is the editor of the Routledge series Innovations in International Affairs and the Luiss University Press series Radar.
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Rosario Forlenza

Rosario Forlenza specializes in the history of modern Europe and Italy in its global implications. He works at the intersection of history, politics and anthropology and focuses particularly on democracy and authoritarianism, political revolutions, nationalism and the politics of memory, politics and religion, symbolic politics, and the Cold War. He has written six books, co-edited two volumes, and published over forty peer-reviewed articles and chapters, most notably in The American Historical Review, Past & Present, and Journal of Contemporary History, He is currently working on a comparative history of revolutions from the perspective of political anthropology, on the totalitarian experiences in interwar Russia, Italy, and Germany, and on the global history of Christian Democracy.
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Silvia Menegazzi

Silvia Menegazzi is Head of the AsiaLAB Research Unit and Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Luiss Guido Carli University, where she teaches International Relations and Asian Studies. Her research interests span International Relations, Global Governance, and Area Studies, with a particular focus on the politics and economic development of Asian countries, especially China, Japan, and South Korea.

She has held visiting scholar positions at Sciences Po (Paris), George Washington University (Washington, DC), the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick, and China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) in Beijing. Dr. Menegazzi has been the recipient of research grants and scholarships from several European and Asian institutions.

She lived in China for more than four years and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Her work has been published in academic journals and media outlets, including International Politics, Global Society, Asia Europe Journal, East Asia Forum, and China Files. Among her most recent publications are China’s Blueprint for Global Leadership: GSI, GDI, GCI and Xi Jinping’s Vision for the International Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025, with M. Dian); La Cina e la politica globale (Mondadori, 2023); The NATO–South Korea strategic alignment and contemporary order-building, (International Politics, 2026, with T. Novotna).

Researcher

Ilaria Lorusso

Ilaria Lorusso is a PhD candidate in Politics at LUISS Guido Carli. Her research focuses on EU external action, particularly in migration policy, and on the role of gender in EU foreign policy. She holds a Research Master in European Studies from Maastricht University, where she also held the role of research assistant within the EU-funded PhD program “LIMES – The Hardening and Softening of Borders: Europe in a Globalizing World” and later of teaching fellow for the European Studies and Global Studies programs. She is currently a teaching assistant at LUISS.
Ilaria Tani

Attorney-at-Law in Milan (Italy). Associate Professor of International Law of the Sea, Ocean Affairs Law and Policy, Maritime Law (Master courses), and Polar Law (PhD course) at University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy). Deputy-Director of the PhD programme in Marine Sciences, Technology and Management at University of Milano-Bicocca and the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT). Scientific Advisor to the Italian Navy since 2023. Visiting Fellow at Center of Maritime Military Studies, Venice, since 2026. Visiting lecturer at NATO Defense College and other higher education institutions. Member of the Italian Delegation in United Nations’ and International Hydrographic Organization’s working groups, negotiations, and processes related to the law of the sea, including its technical aspects. Legal consultant for States, private sector, and international secretariats on matters related to the law of the sea. Former Associate Legal Officer at the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations (UNDOALOS, New York, United States).
Irene Olmi

Irene Olmi joined Reverdin Consulting in April 2025 as a consultant, specialising in the agrifood sector and contributing to the firm’s work on sustainable food systems and multilateral organizations. Within CISS, she supports Marc Reverdin as a Strategic Advisor in the Agrifood Unit. Irene previously worked as an EU Policy Consultant in Brussels with a focus on the agrifood, tech, and defence sectors. She holds two Master’s degrees from SOAS, University of London, in International Politics and Diplomatic Studies.
Irene Rusconi
Ivan Cardillo

Ivan Cardillo is an Adjunct Professor at China University of Political Science and Law and a Senior Advisor to the ‘Faren’ Think Tank of the Chinese Ministry of Justice. He is also the Director of the Institute of Chinese Law and Chairman of the Italy-China Business Development Forum. Cardillo serves as a scientific expert for the Knowledge Network on China and the EU-China Research and Innovation Dialogue at the European Commission. He has been appointed as an Arbitrator at the Weihai Court of International Arbitration and frequently serves as an expert witness in U.S. judicial cases involving China-related issues. With a background in teaching Chinese law at institutions such as the University of Trento and the University of Eastern Piedmont, Cardillo has published extensively on various aspects of Chinese law. He recently co-edited the book The Chinese Civil Code in the Global Legal Order: Inner and Outer Perspectives (Brill, 2024).
Ivan Zaccagnini

Ivan Zaccagnini is a PhD candidate and a teaching assistant in the Department of Political Science at LUISS Guido Carli University. He is enrolled in a joint PhD program between LUISS and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He received his MA in International Relations from Rome Tre University in 2019. His research interests focus on emerging and disruptive technologies and future of war. His Twitter account is @ZaccagniniIvan.
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Jean-Pierre Darnis

Jean-Pierre Darnis (MA Université Toulouse, Université Paris X; PhD Université Paris X Nanterre) teaches Contemporary History at LUISS. A full professor at the Université Côte d’Azur (Nice, France), he directs the master’s degree program in French-Italian relations. He coordinates the research program “France, Italy and their Mediterraneans” in the CMMC (Centre de la Mediterranee Moderne et Contemporaine) in Nice and is a member of the scientific council of the Courtyard of the Gentiles (Pontifical Council for Culture) in Rome. He is also an associate fellow of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS, Paris). He was previously director of the Security, Defense, Space program at the International Affairs Institute (IAI) in Rome, and there created the Technology and International Relations program. Email : jpdarnis@luiss.it
Jorge Viñuales

Professor Jorge E. Viñuales is the Harold Samuel Chair of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge and a Professor of International Law at LUISS. In Cambridge, he founded Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). He is also a Member of the Institut de Droit International, the Chairman of the Compliance Committee of the UNECE/WHO Protocol on Water and Health, the co-General Editor of the ICSID Reports, the General Editor of the Cambridge Studies on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Governance and a member of the Panel of Arbitrators of ICSID, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center and other institutions. Jorge has published widely in his specialty areas, including several reference works, such as The International Law of Energy (2022), the ICSID Reports (since 2018), International Environmental Law (2018) and The Foundations of International Investment Law (2014). His research has ranked him in Stanford University’s 2022 World Top 2% scientists list for research quality and impact. Jorge also has a wide portfolio of practice in transactional, pre-litigation and litigation matters, including as arbitrator, expert, counsel, co-counsel and policy advisor. He received his education in France (PhD, Sciences Po, Paris), the United States (LL.M. Harvard), Switzerland (LL.B, Freiburg; B.A., M.A., Geneva; B.A. M.A. IUHEI) and Argentina (LL.B. Unicen). He is a native Spanish speaker and is fluent in English, French and Italian.
Jose Carlos Mariátegui

Writer, curator, scholar and entrepreneur on culture, and technology. Dr. Mariátegui is the founder of Alta Tecnología Andina – ATA, an organization working at the intersection of art, science, technology and society in Latin America. His multidisciplinary research embraces media archaeology, digitization, archives and the impact of technology in memory institutions. He is a Lecturer at LUISS (Rome) and a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. He is a Board Member of Future Everything (UK) and chairs the Education Committee at the Museo de Arte de Lima – MALI. Has published in journals such as AI & Society, Third Text, The Information Society, Telos and Leonardo and curated art and technology projects internationally for more than two decades.