Eduard is a Gulbenkian Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, with more than ten years of experience spanning academic research, government, policy analysis, teaching and security affairs, with a particular focus on Russia and Eurasia.

His postdoctoral research project, “From Thucydidean Moment to Carthaginian Trap: Warfighting Small States under Coercive Domination in the Armenia–Azerbaijan Post-Rivalry,” examines the transformation of small-state rivalry following decisive shifts in the distribution of power, exploring the aspects of imposed peace following the military victory.

Alongside his research at King’s, Dr Abrahamyan teaches International Relations at UCL and is a member of UCL’s Conflict & Change and Connectivity & Conflict interdisciplinary working groups of the French Association for the Study of War and Strategy. Since 2022, he has also been a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Security Affairs, where his work focuses on Russia’s deception strategies, asymmetric influence and warfare.

He completed his PhD in International Relations at the University of Leicester in 2023. From 2019 to 2021, Eduard served as Aide to the President of the Republic of Armenia and was involved in the Club of Small Smart States initiative. Between 2017 and 2019, he was a Donald Rumsfeld Fellow and served as a Visiting Research Fellow and contributing author at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the American Foreign Policy Council, where his work addressed geopolitical and security developments across the South Caucasus and wider Eurasia.

Qualifications

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2025)
• PhD in Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester (2023)
• MSc in Security and International Relations, University of Westminster (2016)
• BA in International Relations and Diplomacy, Yerevan State University (2007)

Research Interests

• Foreign & Security Strategies of Small States
• Non-Western International Relations
• Multipolarity and Regional Orders
• Interstate Rivalry and Ethno-Political Conflicts
• Strategies of Coercion and Deception
• Regionalism and Interstate Societies in Eurasia

Eduard's research correlates with international relations theory, strategic studies, geopolitics, and polarity, with particular interests in the asymmetric relations between small states and major powers, interstate rivalries, non-Western regional orders and interstate societies, coercive domination, and revisionism. His regional expertise encompasses Russia and Eurasia, with a particular focus on the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Publications

• Book - Abrahamyan, E. (2025). "Small States, Russia and the West: Polarity, Constellations and Heterogeneity in the Geopolitics of the Caucasus." Routledge - Abingdon https://www.routledge.com/Small-States-Russia-and-the-West-Polarity-Constellations-and-Heterogeneity-in-the-Geopolitics-of-the-Caucasus/Abrahamyan/p/book/9781032799759
• Book Chapter - Davtyan E., Abrahamyan E., (2026). "Hiding and hedging on Russia’s doorstep: The limits of strategic adaptation of Armenia and Azerbaijan amidst the War in Ukraine." In B. Thorhallsson & E. Davtyan (Eds.), Survival strategies of small states: The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. IOS Press.
• Research Article - Abrahamyan, E., et al. (2026). “Sitting on Two Chairs: Exploring Armenia’s Foreign Policy through Role Theory and Small-State Status-Seeking.” Europe-Asia Studies 78(6), pp. 980-1004. (https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2026.2687608).
• Policy paper - Abrahamyan, E. (2025). "Russia Reengages with Armenia (and Azerbaijan)" - Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. https://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/13900-russia-reengages-with-armenia-and-azerbaijan.html

Courses 

• International Relations (IRDR0045)
• Key Concepts in International Relations (PL1022)
• Order and Disorder: International Relations 1989 to the Present (PL1016)
• Polarity, Constellations and Interests in the South Caucasus (IRT11)
• Foreign and Security strategies of Smaller States at times of Competitive Multipolarity (A02)
• Origins of Contemporary Geopolitics

Dr Abrahamyan is open to supervise PhD students in the following subject areas:

• Small State Studies (including defence and security strategies)
• Emerging Middle Powers in post-Soviet Eurasia
• Geopolitics of the South Caucasus & Central Asia
• Russia's Foreign and Security Policies
• Regionalism and Interregionalism in Eurasia
• Foreign Policy Analysis and Post-Soviet States