Ildar Daminov is a Ph.D. student in Comparative International Political Economy minoring in Social Science Methodology at Central European University in Vienna. He holds MA degrees in International Studies from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and Political Science from Central European University. Ildar's thematic research interests include domestic and foreign policies of authoritarian and hybrid regimes; socio-political impacts of digitalization and digital technologies; good/bad governance; conflict prevention; social science methodologies. Regionally, he focuses on Central and Eastern Europe; Central Asia; and East Asia (esp. Korea). Ildar has several years of extensive professional experience in the international public sector related to providing research services to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He has authored and co-authored a variety of publications (incl. peer-reviewed articles, policy reports, and book chapters). Ildar also makes regular journalistic contributions to The Diplomat as an external writer.