Welcome
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. My research spans four interconnected fields: contentious politics, information control & beliefs manipulation, cybercrime, and cognitive sciences. Together, they form a framework for understanding the evolving logic of coercion, persuasion, and exploits in the cyberspace.
Join me in this discovery! Find my Google Scholar profile here and my CV here.
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At the heart of my inquiry lies a question: What is cyberspace, and how does it redefine the boundaries between information and the physical world? Can we adapt the classic ideas of Weber, Tilly, and Olson—about monopolies on coercion—to a reality where power is diffused across networks of data and algorithms? These theoretical puzzles guide my exploration of how states and criminals exploit cognitive vulnerabilities information flows to enforce control in an era where distinguishing truth from fiction has become prohibitively expensive for the average person.
Equally, I study the mechanics of persuasion and propaganda. In a world teeming with bots, trolls, and covert operations, the line between organic user behavior and state-sponsored manipulation blurs. This raises profound questions about the architecture of belief systems and the fragility of democratic discourse when trust in information sources erodes.
My research delves into the parallels between human and machine learning. Both, it seems, are shaped by incomplete and often biased datasets—be it the emotional scars of childhood or the skewed inputs that define artificial intelligence training sets. These vulnerabilities create fertile ground for cybercriminals to exploit cognitive weaknesses in humans and AI-based systems.
Each of these threads —- cyberspace, manipulation, behavioral vulnerabilities, and the blurred boundaries between humans and machines -— connects to a broader ambition: to map the invisible contours of power and resistance in a world where the digital and the physical increasingly overlap.
Research Agenda
▨ Under Press ▨ Under Review ▨ Under Construction
Information Control and Contentious Politics
■┓ [Technology & Protest]
┣━[’13] Well-Organized Play: Symbolic Politics and the Effect of the Pro-Putin Rallies
┃ Problems of Post-Communism, 2013, 60(2): 24-39 (with R. Smyth & I. Soboleva)
┣━[’19] Stability of Revolutionary Governments In The Face of Mass Protest
┃ European Journal of Political Economy, 2019, 60, 2-20 (with D. Dagaev & N. Lamberova)
┣━[’20] News and Geolocated Social Media Accurately Measure Protest Size Variation
┃ American Political Science Review, 2020, 114(4), 1343-1351 (with K. Chen, J. Joo & Z. S.-Threlkeld))
┗━[ ] Protest Fragmentation: Mapping Disunity Beneath a Common Banner (with K. Medhi)
■┓ [Information Manipulation]
┣━[ ] Fantastic Beasts and How To Find Them: Three Perspectives on Identification of Paid Political Trolls
┣━[ ] Fantastic Beasts and Whether They Matter: Causal Effect of Paid Political Trolls on Online Discussions
┣━[ ] Fantastic Beasts and Where They Lead: How Trolls Manipulate Search Engines
┣━[ ] How Free Media Can Help an Autocrat to Deal with Mass Protests? A Curious Case of Russia
┗━[ ] Backup for an Autocrat: A Subtle Art of Delayed Propaganda
Cyber Policy & Security
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┣━[ ] The Last Call for Authenticity: AI Voice Scams Reshaping Business and Political Communication
┣━[ ] Fortresses Without Borders: The Limits of Monopolization of Cyber Coercion
┣━[ ] Another Breach In The FireWall: The Hidden Cost of Digital Convenience in Municipal Governance
┣━[ ] Hacking The Ivory Tower: Understanding Cyber Attacks Against Social Sciences
┗━[ ] The Lost of Us: From Digital Fingerprints to Distorted Data in Cybersecurity
Cognitive Exploits in Humans & Machines
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┣━[’24] Quality of Life and Afghan Adults’ Psychosocial Wellbeing Under Taliban 2.0
┃ PLoS One, 2024 (with J. Hanson-DeFusco, A. Stanekzai, A. McMaster,
┃ H. Popalzai, H. Shah, M. Shi, & N. Kumar)
┣━[ ] Low Battery: Mental Health Correlates of Charging Habits
┣━[ ] Trauma in Training: How Human Socialization Creates Behavioral Vulnerabilities in AI
┗━[ ] Reversal of Misfortune: Covid-19 in the Changing of Attitudes Toward Behavioral Disorders
Economics & Political Economy
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┣━ [’13] Social and Economic Policy Trade-Offs in the Russian Regions: Evidence from Four Case Studies
┃ Europe-Asia Studies, 2013, 65(10): 1855-1876 (with T. Remington, I. Soboleva, & M. Urnov)
┣━ [’14] Means of Production VS Means of Coercion: Can Russian Business Limit the Violence of Predatory State?
┃ Post-Soviet Affairs, 2014, 30(1), 171-194 (with A. Yakovlev & A. Kazun)
┗━ [’14] Trial by Fire: a Natural Disaster’s Impact on Support for the Authorities in Rural Russia
World Politics, 2014, 66(4), 641-668 (with E. Lazarev, I. Soboleva, & B. Sokolov)