Conor Cunningham
About
Conor Cunningham is a recent graduate from the University of Washington. He graduated with a major in International Studies and minors in: (1) Russian Language, (2) French Language, and (3) Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies. During his time at the University of Washington, he was an International Policy Institute Cybersecurity Fellow. His research focused primarily on election interference and analyzing Russian cyber operations around the globe. He also worked on research projects for external clients including Microsoft and the Global Disinformation Index.
Conor studied Russian at Moscow International University during the summer of 2018, thanks to the support of a FLAS scholarship. More recently, as a Boren scholar, he studied Russian and Eastern European studies during the 2019-2020 academic year in Daugavpils, Latvia. Conor’s research experiences and stints in Eastern Europe developed his enthusiasm for Russian language, history, and culture more broadly, while also solidifying his particular interest in Russia’s foreign policy and how this pertains to the cyber realm.
Conor is currently an intern with the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In 2021, he will be heading to Moldova on a Fulbright grant to examine how various narratives, prevalent in social media, influence perceptions of the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
