Kiril Avramov
Special guest
Dr. Kiril Avramov is a post-doctoral research fellow of the Intelligence Studies Project (ISP) at the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Avramov was until December 2017 the Acting Vice-Rector for International Relations and Research at the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, Bulgaria and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at NBU. He studied previously at Gustavus Adolphus College (USA/MN), the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), University of Sofia (Bulgaria), Central European University (Hungary), and NBU. He taught in the Department of Political Science at the University of Sofia until 2005 and, from 2006-2010, was also the Director of the international consultancy and research institute “Political Capital” in Bulgaria. In 2010, he was appointed as the Director for International Relations of Political Capital at the firm’s headquarters in Budapest.
Dr. Avramov’s main research interests are information warfare, psychological operations and mass cognitive hacking, as well as the “weaponization of information” and their respective application and effects on individual and group decision-making processes in the Central and Eastern Europe and MENA regions. Additional areas of interest include political elites’ and non-elites’ decision-making resilience mechanisms and radicalization in post-transition democracies during identified active “psyops” and third party information operations.
Dr. Avramov is a member of the Bulgarian Political Science Association and the ECPR’s standing groups on Extremism & Democracy, Central and East European Politics, Elites and Political Leadership, Politics and the Arts, and Southeast Europe. He is also a member of the RAN-DERAD network under the Migration and Home Affairs Directorate of the European Commission.
Dr. Avramov was a Fulbright Senior Visiting Research Scholar at the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREEES) at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015-2016. He earned a full scholarship for his PhD research at the University of Sofia and received an “Open Society Institute-Sofia” scholarship for his year-long PhD specialization at the Central European University in Budapest.
Kiril Avramov has been a guest on 4 episodes.
-
North Macedonia and the Mired Quest for EU Accession
January 17th, 2022 | Season 4 | 29 mins 59 secs
bulgaria, eu, greece, history, north macedonia, politics
On this special episode, Dr. Mary Neuburger's graduate class presents their analysis of North Macedonia’s complicated quest for EU accession which has been ongoing for over 25 years. What's the hold up exactly and which EU members are keen on preventing European integration? Take a listen and find out!
-
The Hidden Green Men with Kiril Avramov
September 19th, 2020 | Season 3 | 53 mins 2 secs
belarus, bulgaria, corruption, mass protest, mercenaries, russia
In this insider's episode hosted by Matt and newbie host Katherine, Intelligence Studies Project fellow Dr. Kiril Avramov discusses his new book, “Russia’s Hidden Armies,” Belarusian turmoil, and the anti-corruption protests continuing within Bulgaria. This was a packed session, so we hope you're ready for this. Enjoy!
-
"Rival Power: Russia's Challenge to the West in the Balkans" with Dimitar Bechev (BALKAN CIRCLE series)
September 7th, 2020 | 33 mins 53 secs
balkan circle, balkans, bosnia, china, great power politics, russian foreign policy, serbia, soft power
On this first session of the Balkan Circle, a lecture series of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Dimitar Bechev talks about his book "RIVAL POWER" and Russia's current foreign policy, particularly its role in the Balkans.
-
Trust Me: The Politics of Conspiracy Theory with Kiril Avramov
April 25th, 2019 | Season 1 | 53 mins
conspiracy theory researchers, intelligence studies project, russia, ukraine
As a kickoff to the Information Wars Social Media Conference here at the University of Texas today, we are releasing this episode featuring one of UT's own speakers, Dr. Kiril Avramov, who is not only brilliant but one of the most caring and engaging educators on these Forty Acres! Listen to find out why he is easily one of students' favorite professors.