Vera Mironova is a Russian-American academic, scholar, award-winning writer, producer, and policy consultant specializing in armed conflict. Vera is an Associate Fellow at Middle East Institute. She is an author of two award-winning books on security and counter-terrorism focusing on former Soviet Union. Her first book, From Freedom Fighter to Jihadist: Human Resources of Non-State Armed Group, was published in 2019 (OUP) and her second book, Criminals, Nazis, and Islamists: Competition for Power in Former Soviet Union Prisons, was published in 2023 (OUP). She is currently finishing her third book, Displaced War: History of Conflict in North Caucasus (OUP).
Most of Vera’s work is on the field. To answer her research questions she conducts in depth field work in conflict zones and with hard to access population. She interviewed hundreds of ISIS members, members of other terrorist groups, and criminals all over the world. In 2016-2017, she was embedded with Iraqi Special Operation Force for the battle of Mosul, and in 2022-2023, she was embedded with Ukraine Security Services. In 2023, she worked on US/Mexico border. She also worked in Syria, Yemen, Nagorno-Karabakh, Sudan, Ukraine and DR Congo among other countries. Her unique field work was profiled in the article of New Scientist among other magazines. She was an investigator with UNITAD in Baghdad, special adviser of Red Cross for working with armed groups in the Middle East and consults countries on repatriation and prosecution of returned ISIS members. Vera’s scholarship has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, BBC, The Economist, and Sunday Times. She has also served as a commentator for a number of major media outlets such as Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy and wrote opinions for New York Times, Washington Post, and Globe and Mail. She often collaborates with investigative journalists on in depth investigations published by The New York Times, BBC, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Guardian.
Vera is a graduate of Moscow State University, holding Master of Science degrees in both Applied Mathematics (valedictorian) and in Social and Economic Geography. She received her doctorate in political science from the University of Maryland and was a pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiations. She also held a visiting professor position at University of Oxford Blavatnik School of Government.
