LSE IDEAS selects next Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellow to build on existing research into the Balkans

Dr Leon Hartwell has been named the 2022 Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, The London School of Economics’ foreign policy think tank.

Hartwell, who is currently the Acting Director on the Transatlantic Leadership Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington D.C., brings a wealth of expertise and experience to LSE IDEAS.

Having received a PhD in Global Studies (Leipzig University, Germany) and Political Science (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa), Dr Hartwell has worked across industry and academia, having held posts in the Dutch foreign ministry and US State Department, as well a number of leading academic institutions.

As the 2022 recipient of the Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellowship, Hartwell will undertake research into domestic and foreign policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the potential policy options available to the US, UK and EU in bringing about an end to the country’s ‘post-war paralysis’.  

Made possible thanks to the generous endowment by Mrs Mladena Sotirov, the Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellowship at LSE IDEAS provides support for a selected scholar to undertake study into Bulgaria and the Balkan region, working to understand its recent history, international affairs, the challenges it faces today and the prospects of tomorrow.

Professor Christopher Coker, Director at LSE IDEAS, says: 

“We value the support which the Sotirov family has given IDEAS over the years. Thanks to the generosity of the family, we have been able to bring over many excellent scholars to work on issues involving Bulgaria and the Balkans. Dr Hartwell joins that distinguished list and we welcome him to LSE.”

Dr Leon Hartwell, 2022 Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, says:

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to LSE IDEAS, as well as the wider LSE, for this opportunity. It’s an honour to have been selected as the next Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellow, undertaking critical study into a diverse and increasingly-important region. I look forward to building on the important work of the Sotirov Fellows who have gone before me, and contributing to research output at a time when it has never been more desperately sought-after.”