Ritsa Panagiotou is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) in Athens. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Russian from Wellesley College, and an M.Phil and a D.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University (St. Antony’s College).  For several years she worked as a Research Associate at the European Business School (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France. She has been an Adjunct Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business, at the University of Athens Postgraduate Programme in Southeast European Studies and at the College Year in Athens Study Abroad Programme. She has also been  a Visiting Research Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.  Her research interests include the political and economic development of the Balkan region, the European Union’s Balkan enlargement, and Russia’s involvement in the Western Balkans.  She has published in many scholarly journals, including Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Journal of Balkan and Near East Studies, the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, and Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.