Laura Vansina is a PhD Researcher at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS) of the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG-VUB). Laura completed her MA in History at the KU Leuven in 2018, focusing on contemporary history and Eastern Europe. She then proceeded to expand her horizons by completing an MSc in 2019, this time in Policy Economics. Amongst others, she has previously interned at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, VRT and NATO.
As a Eutopia scholar, she completes her PhD research both at the VUB and the University of Warwick (Department of Politics and International Studies). Her project focuses on Russian memory politics. Specifically, she looks at the role of historical narratives as a legitimation instrument for the Kremlin’s policy stances. The policies include, but are not limited to, arms control, interventionism and the domestic power vertical. Laura is more broadly interested in memory studies, Russia studies, narratives and ontological security.
Apart from her academic research, she has also engaged in policy work for think tanks such as Transparency International, Clingendael and the Egmont Institute.