Dr. Sevanna Poghosyan

Sevanna Poghosyan earned her PhD in Law from the University of Tartu, School of Law, Estonia, in October 2024. Her dissertation explored Soviet and contemporary Russian approaches to democracy in international law. She has delivered various lectures and seminars on the subject. She holds Master's degrees in "International Law and Human Rights" and "European Union-Russia Studies" from the University of Tartu, as well as an MA in "Iranian Studies" from Yerevan State University, Armenia.
Her research interests focus on authoritarian interpretations of international law and human rights, as well as the politics of international law, with a specific focus on Russia and the post-Soviet space. She has published in various journals and handbooks, such as The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Europe, the Baltic Yearbook of International Law, the Polish Yearbook of International Law.

Working Group

Human Rights

Research Project

Russia and Challenges to Liberal Democracy within the European Regional Order

The idea of universalising the Western liberal conception of democracy has generated significant debate within international law and human rights scholarship. Yet, much remains to be addressed regarding the particularist interpretations, specifically in light of the authoritarian use of international law.

Sevanna Poghosyan’s research project aims to investigate contemporary Russia’s particularist conception of democracy, which exhibits both breaks and continuities with the Soviet-era conception of "people’s democracy", and explore its impact on the democratic ideas and standards in the European regional political-legal order, where the rise of authoritarian and populist regimes, specifically in Eastern and Central Europe, has created fertile ground for Russia’s influence. The project's objective is to analyse how Russia, amid its ongoing war against Ukraine, strategically utilises "democracy" language in the context of international law and human rights to challenge Western liberal conceptions associated with it and seeks allies within Europe that may help it channel its particularist views across the continent.

By investigating these dynamics through analysis of both legal and political discourse as well as official communication (both bilateral with individual EU states (Poland, Hungary) and at the level of the European institutions (EU and CoE)), this study seeks to shed light on Russia's impact on the legal and political landscapes of European democracies. It aims to highlight the challenges to the consistent application of democratic norms and offer insights into the broader implications of Russia's geopolitical strategies.