Kate Flaherty is from Acton, Massachusetts and completed her undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke College in Russian & Eurasian Studies and Latin American Studies in 2019. She completed a semester abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia with a host family, learning about Russian language, culture, history, and politics. She spent the summers of 2018 and 2019 interning at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies, where her work involved being an assistant editor for the Journal for Cold War Studies as well as being a research assistant. She specialized in Russian/Western/NATO relations, Russian security policy in the Balkans, and neutrality & nonalignment in Yugoslav policy. More recently, in summer 2021, Kate completed an 8-week intensive Russian language program with Middlebury College, and in Fall 2021 began work as a research intern for the American Foreign Policy Council. At CERES, Kate is pursuing further study in Russian security & foreign policy in the Balkans, as well as completing a certificate in Latin American Studies. So far, she has done research papers on topics including U.S.-Russia peacekeeping efforts after the Dayton Accords, landmines and the demining process in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Mexican renewable energy, and projections of Russia-Venezuela energy relations.