Enrico Cattabiani

Enrico has currently concluded his first year as a Double Degree Master student of Economics and Business at the University College of London (UCL), School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies. He will spend his second year in Moscow studying International Relations at the Higher School of Economics. As a future expert of Russia’s affairs, he believes that the understanding of economic and financial phenomenon such as currency crises, free trade deals and financial markets reactions to political events is fundamental for providing comprehensive analyses on both Russian foreign and domestic policies. This belief has led him to specialize in Economics before continuing his study in International Relations. Enrico is particularly interested in the current regimes of sanctions between Russia and the West, both from a political as well from an economic point of view. He is planning to write a thesis showing the impact of Russia’s self-imposed food ban on Russia’s domestic industry and the extent to which the international trade patterns have changed due to this policy. His aim is to demonstrate whether Russia could benefit from it. His blog will thereby focus mostly on economic sanctions within the Russia-EU relations’ framework. Other topics such as Russia’s political and economic relations with the BRICS and central Asian countries will also be covered. "