Dimitar Bechev is Director of the Sofia-based European Policy Institute and Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University. His previous positions include Senior Visiting Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics, Research Fellow at European Studies Centre, University of Oxford, Senior Policy Fellow and Director of Sofia Office at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), and visiting professor at Histotsubashi University, Tokyo.  Dr. Bechev has published widely on EU external policies and the foreign policy and domestic affairs of Turkey and the Balkans, Russia’s influence in Southeast Europe. His new book, coming out with Yale University Press in 2017, is entitled Rival Power: Russia in Southeast Europe.  He is a regular contributor to Oxford Analytica, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy and openDemocracy.  Dr. Bechev’s quotes have appeared in The Economist, Financial Times and the Wall Street Journals, amongst other quality media outlets.  He holds a D.Phil. in Politics and International Relations from the University of Oxford.