CNS Staff: Alexander Melikishvili

Email: alexanderm[at]miis.edu
Alexander Melikishvili Alexander Melikishvili is a research associate at the Washington, D.C. office of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Alexander's expertise covers a wide range of topics, including U.S.-led WMD threat reduction initiatives and nonproliferation assistance programs in the former Soviet Union, illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive materials, export control and regional security issues in the Newly Independent States with particular focus on Caucasus and Central Asia. Alexander joined CNS in September 2002 after graduating with Master of International Affairs degree (concentration - Security Studies) from the George Washington University. He earned his Bachelor in Business Administration degree in management with a second major in political science and a minor in economics from the University of Kentucky in 2000. Alexander's research interests also include the following: geopolitics of energy in Transcaspian region; political role of Islam in Russia (clerical rivalries, party formation, political mobilization capacity, etc.); Muslim fundamentalism in Russia and the CIS; and separatist territories in the post-Soviet space with emphasis on breakaway regions in the Caucasus region. Alexander was the co-editor of the NIS Export Control Observer and later International Export Control Observer, where many of his research articles appeared.

Prior to joining CNS, Alexander worked as a freelance consultant and research assistant for the Islam Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where, under the guidance of the then Islam Program Director, Dr. Shireen Hunter, he contributed to the comprehensive analytical survey of Islam in the Russian Federation, which culminated in the publication of the book - Shireen T. Hunter with Jeffrey L. Thomas and Alexander Melikishvili, Islam in Russia: Politics of Identity and Security, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 2004. He also worked for U.S.-Russia Business Council and Human Rights Watch.

Alexander's articles include the following: "Has FARC Entered the Illicit Trade in Radioactive Materials," WMD Insights, April 2008, <http://www.wmdinsights.org/I24/I24_LA1_HasFARCEntered.htm>; "The Anti-plague System in the Newly Independent States, 1992 and Onwards," posted on-line on January 3, 2008 (Chapters on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan; Introduction in co-authorship with Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley and Raymond A. Zilinskas) <http://www.cns.miis.edu/research/antiplague/index.htm>; "Seizure of Uranium in Slovakia Produces Maelstrom of Exaggerated News Report in International Media," CNS Feature Story, December 21, 2007, http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/071220.htm; Response to the Stratfor article "Georgia: A Bombing Whodunit" [Georgia News Digest, August 8, 2007], Georgia News Digest, August 10, 2007; Response to op-ed by Jeffrey Sweetbaum [Johnson's Russia List, No.181, August 10, 2006], Johnson's Russia List, No.183, August 14, 2006; Response to the Letter by Ashot Vardanyan [Johnson's Russia List, No.119, May 22, 2006], Johnson's Russia List, No.128, June 2, 2006; "The Soviet Anti-Plague System: An Introduction," Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Vol.32, No.1, January-March 2006, pp.1-13 (in co-authorship with Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley and Raymond A. Zilinskas); "Genesis of the Anti-Plague System: The Tsarist Period," Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Vol.32, No.1, January-March 2006, pp.19-31; "What Non-Proliferation Policy for the Soviet Anti-Plague System?" Critical Reviews in Microbiology, Vol.32, No.1, January-March 2006, pp.65-67 (in co-authorship with Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley and Raymond A. Zilinskas); Response to Charles A. Kupchan's "Wilted Rose. A Sukhumi Dispatch" [Johnson's Russia List, No.26, January 28, 2006], Johnson's Russia List, No.40, February 12, 2006; Response to Mark Almond's "U.S. Blinded by Its Love Affair With Saakashvili" [Johnson's Russia List, No.8322, August 10, 2004], Johnson's Russia List, No.8324, August 12, 2004; "The Burden of the Balkan Mandate: A Critical Assessment of Humanitarian Intervention in Kosovo," International Affairs Review (The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University), Vol. XI, No.2, Summer/Autumn 2002, pp.100-109.

Alexander is originally from Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.

Areas of expertise:

  • WMD Threat Reduction and Nonproliferation Assistance Programs in the former Soviet Union
  • Illicit Trafficking in Radioactive and Nuclear Materials
  • Export Control in the former Soviet Union
  • Islam in Russian Federation
  • Muslim fundamentalism in the Commonwealth of Independent States
  • Secessionist conflicts in the post-Soviet space

Regional Expertise:

  • Caucasus
  • Central Asia