Matteo Fumagalli

Dr Matteo Fumagalli is a Senior Lecturer at the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews. He holds dual leadership roles as Dean of Graduate Studies at the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS) and Director of the Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus Studies (MECACS). His research focuses on identities, ethnic conflict, natural resource politics, and inter-Asian connectivity, with regional expertise in Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Southeast Asia.

Key research areas include:

• Analysis of Uzbek minorities in Tajikistan/Kyrgyzstan
• Comparative authoritarianism in Laos, Armenia, and Georgia
• Energy politics and climate change impacts in Southeast Asia
• Korean development strategies in Central Asia

Recent work explores post-coup Myanmar dynamics through studies on aid effectiveness and fragmented sovereignties. He supervises five PhD students and has published monographs with leading presses including Cambridge University Press and Palgrave Macmillan. His fieldwork focuses on navigating research challenges with vulnerable ethnic minorities in conflict zones.

Advisory roles include leadership in graduate education reform and interdisciplinary research initiatives on Eurasian security. Current projects examine cross-border aid paradigms and the evolving geopolitics of Asian connectivity initiatives.