Dr Aleksandra Peeva has been named the 2022-2023 Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellow at LSE IDEAS, The London School of Economics’ foreign policy think tank.
Dr Peeva is a research fellow at the Humboldt University of Berlin and a consultant with the World Bank.
She previously earned a PhD in economics from the German Institute for Economic Research and Humboldt University, learnt to teach students as a lecturer at the Free University Berlin, examined the fiscal aspects of economic stimulus measures at home and abroad while interning with the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the German Agency for International Cooperation and convinced herself of the need for society’s support of culture as an intern with the Film Society of Lincoln Center. She also profited from the diversity of opinions and backgrounds at the Berlin Social Science Center and the International Monetary Fund while on visiting research fellowships there.
Dr Peeva’s research gravitates around the topics of economic interdependencies and instrumentalisation of economics for political goals.
During her Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellowship, Dr Peeva will use insights from her work with the World Bank on the impact of EU funding in Eastern European EU Member States. She will work on a project on the political connectedness of EU‐funded firms and its relation to democratic backsliding in Bulgaria.
Made possible thanks to the generous endowment by Mrs Mladena Sotirov, the Mladena and Dianko Sotirov Visiting Fellowship at LSE IDEAS provides support for a selected scholar to undertake study into Bulgaria and the Balkan region, working to understand its recent history, international affairs, the challenges it faces today and the prospects of tomorrow.
Professor Christopher Coker, Director at LSE IDEAS, says:
“We value the support which the Sotirov family has given IDEAS over the years. Thanks to the generosity of the family, we have been able to bring over many excellent scholars to work on issues involving Bulgaria and the Balkans. Dr Peeva joins that distinguished list and we welcome her to LSE.”