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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

José Luis Rhi-Sausi

José Luis-Rhi Sausi, an economist, former Director at Rome based CeSPI (Centre for International Political Studies), is a senior expert at the Italo-Latin American International Organization (IILA), where he focuses on international cooperation and socio-economic issues. He has contributed to numerous studies and initiatives centered on Latin American integration, human rights, and migration policies. He is the author and co-author of academic publications and policy papers, as well as a speaker at international conferences and seminars. He has actively participated in multilateral projects and collaborated with academic institutions, international organizations, and research centers. His work has made a significant contribution to strategic studies and programs aimed at promoting regional Latin American integration, human rights, the governance of international migration, and the strengthening of political, economic, and cultural ties between Europe and Latin America. Thanks to his experience and expertise, he is now regarded as one of the most authoritative and influential voices in the dialogue between the two continents.
Kristina Stoeckl

Kristina Stoeckl is full professor of sociology at the Department of Political Science at Luiss. She holds degrees from the European University Institute and the Central European University. Her areas of expertise are political sociology, social and political theory, sociology of religion, and the sociology of human rights and social movements. The focus of her research lies on politics and religion, state-religion relations in Russia, Orthodox Christianity, norm- and anti-gender mobilizations and transnational religious actors. Among her recent publications are “The Moralist International. Russia in the Global Culture Wars” (Fordham 2022) (co-authored with Dmitry Uzlaner) and “The Global Fight against LGBTI-Rights” (New York University Press 2024) (co-authored with Phillip Ayoub).
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Luciano Monti

Adjunct Professor of European Union Policies at Luiss Guido Carli in Rome, where he has been teaching since 1999, and one of the national coordinators of the ASviS SDG 8 Working Group “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Senior Fellow of Luiss School of Government (IT) and Fellow of the Geneva Graduate Institute (IT). Member of several scientific committees in Italy and abroad. Author of over 120 scientific publications and papers on European Union policies focusing mainly on youth policies and cultural heritage development. He is member of the public policies’ youth impact evaluation committee promoted by the Italian Council of Ministers.
Luigi Giorgi

Luigi Giorgi is a finishing PhD candidate in History of Islamic Countries at University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Rome. Between 2018 and 2022, he has been working as Research Fellow at the department of Political Science of Luiss University, Rome. His research interests include history, politics and economics of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and socio-political mobilizations in the region. He is currently developing a research on the history of bilateral and multilateral relations among the Gulf States. He gained work and research experiences in Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and Tunisia. Among his publications: Giorgi L. & Cherubini, F. (2023) Fine della guerra infinita? Afghanistan 2021. Storia, Geopolitica, Diritto, Sicurezza. FrancoAngeli, Milano (in corso di pubblicazione); Giorgi, L. (2021) Mashreq monarchies’ role in the Mediterranean Sea. The evolution of the role of Qatar in the Mediterranean crises, in “States, Actors and Geopolitical drivers in the Mediterranean. Perspectives on the New Centrality in a Changing Region” (edited by F. Corrao & R. Redaelli). Palgrave Macmillan, Londra, pp. 324-335; Giorgi, L (2015) Sidi Bouzid e la rivoluzione ripudiata, in “Limes, rivista italiana di Geopolitica”, n. 8, pp. 209-214.
Manfredi Marciante

Manfredi Marciante is a Research Fellow at LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, focusing his academic research on individuals’ access to justice in environmental matters. He earned his Ph.D. in Law and Business and was a Visiting Scholar at the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance and the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, where he conducted research on the modernization of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) within the realms of climate change policy, sustainable development, and international investment. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at LUISS Guido Carli, teaching various subjects related to international law.
He regularly participates in international conferences and seminars.
Manfredi Valeriani

Manfredi Valeriani earned his PhD at Hamburg University and Luiss University with a thesis on “Funding Instruments to Italian NGOs” is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Luiss where he also teaches Political Risk Analysis and International Politics and Businesses. He has been Adjunct Professor at the University “L’Orientale” in Naples and at the American University of Rome. His research currently focuses on Structured Analytic Techniques, Scenario Analysis, and Italian Foreign Policy.
Manuel Anselmi

Manuel Anselmi (Civita Castellana, 1975) is an Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bergamo. He has obtained the National Scientific Habilitation as Full Professor in Political Sociology. His research areas include political ideologies, theories of populism, penal populism, and Latin American politics, with a particular focus on revolutionary Bolivarianism. He is the editor of the “Lessico Democratico” series for Mondadori Università and “Democrazie e Conflitti” for Meltemi Editore. He has conducted research and taught at numerous foreign universities, including the University of Kentucky, FLACSO Ecuador, Universidad de Salamanca, the London School of Economics, and Loyola University in New Orleans.
Marco Martino

Ph.D. candidate in History at Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa) and teaching assistant at LUISS Guido Carli (Rome), my research interests focus on political history and history of ideas of modern Europe and Latin America, which I analyze through political anthropology and microhistory, exploring the implications of socio-political, cultural, and intellectual phenomena on individual and collective human experiences, especially during revolutions and political transitions of the contemporary period. I am currently working on the end of the Italian Communist Party, and the anthropological and existential implications that the period 1989-1991 had on its grassroots militants.
Maria Helena Semedo

Maria Helena Semedo, former FAO Deputy Director General (Climate and Natural Resources) between 2013 and 2024, is an economist and politician from Cape Verde. As leading expert in global development issues, she has worked in public service for over thirty years. She was FAO’s representative in Niger, then Deputy Regional Representative for Africa and Sub-regional Coordinator for West Africa. She also worked as an economist for the Cabo Verde Ministry of Planning and Cooperation, became Secretary of State for Fisheries, and then Minister for Fisheries, Agriculture and Rural Affairs – the first-ever woman Minister in her country. After serving as Minister for Tourism, Transportation and Marine Affairs from 1995-1998, she became Member of Parliament until 2003.