Education

Master of Arts with Honors, Politics, University of Edinburgh

Biography

Elizaveta Polyakova is an Analyst at the Democracy Shield Task Force of the Center for the Study of Democracy. Her research focuses on countering foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), investigating Russian disinformation networks, and strengthening democratic resilience against authoritarian influences across South East Europe and the Black Sea region. She is involved in mixed-method, data-driven projects investigating ongoing information operations in digital environments, focusing on anti-EU/NATO, conflict-related, and gender and identity-based disinformation campaigns.

With an academic background in critical security and military studies, Elizaveta’s MA dissertation provided a multimodal critical discourse analysis of the representations of Ukraine’s Armed Forces servicewomen in Ukraine’s mainstream media following the start of the full-scale invasion. Prior to joining the CSD, Elizaveta led various academic forums at her university and, as part of a policy internship at the “Ekaterina Karavelova” Foundation, contributed to gender equality initiatives in Bulgaria through research and advocacy initiatives on women’s political representation.