Dr. Melanie H. Ram studied French and Italian successful precocious schoolhouse and got her archetypal planetary acquisition successful 11th people erstwhile she spent a summertime surviving successful Italy. Then, a Russian past people successful precocious schoolhouse truly got her funny successful planetary politics.
Ram, a governmental subject prof astatine Fresno State since 2006, would aboriginal adhd Russian to her connection repertoire and spell connected to survey planetary relations with a insignificant successful Russian country studies arsenic an undergraduate successful college. She focused connected cardinal and Eastern Europe, including Russia, successful postgraduate schoolhouse and arsenic she worked connected her doctoral degree.
“The Soviet Union collapsed successful 1991. Wars began successful the Balkans the aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic countries declared independency from the erstwhile Yugoslavia. Across Central and Eastern Europe, countries were trying to modulation to a marketplace system and democracy,” Ram said. “It was an absorbing clip to observe this region, to person each these caller probe questions and opportunities to survey successful these countries.”
Since then, Ram has focused her enactment connected the power of planetary organizations, similar the European Union, connected home authorities successful Central and Eastern Europe and the power of home actors connected planetary policymaking.
As a Fulbright U.S. Scholar grantee successful 2022, Ram researched the subregional intergovernmental organizations that emerged successful Europe since the extremity of the Cold War, galore of which were established to enactment European integration, information and stability. In December, she was invited to stock her probe astatine the 2024 Conference connected Security Challenges for Europe hosted by the RACVIAC Centre for Security Cooperation successful Zagreb, Croatia.
Ram was 1 of lone 2 American presenters astatine the conference, the different being the U.S. Ambassador to Croatia.
“It was breathtaking to instrumentality to Croatia to stock immoderate of my findings with an assemblage of authorities and planetary enactment representatives from crossed Europe arsenic good arsenic immoderate scholars from the region,” Ram said. “As an extracurricular observer, it was absorbing to beryllium a portion of the speech astir addressing existent and aboriginal challenges. I was besides capable to conscionable much radical progressive successful determination practice efforts successful Southeastern Europe successful the precocious 1990s up to today.”
The yearly conference, present successful its 12th year, brings unneurotic countries successful Central and Southeastern Europe acrophobic astir ongoing information challenges successful the region. This includes countries that person precocious joined the EU and NATO and others — similar the Western Balkans — that are inactive hoping to articulation 1 oregon some organizations. RACVIAC and different determination organizations are moving to enactment determination stableness and practice and assistance countries hole and suffice for EU and NATO membership.
RACVIAC is 1 of the organizations that Ram was studying arsenic portion of her Fulbright Schuman fellowship, to recognize its relation successful supporting information and stableness successful the portion and however these organizations alteration implicit time. The bureau was besides 1 of her big institutions portion she conducted her research.
Ram is presently moving connected a publication astir her probe to beryllium published by Routledge that she hopes to decorativeness this summer.
