Grigorij “Grisha” Mesežnikov is a prominent political scientist and President of the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), an independent Slovak think-tank. He has conducted extensive research on political systems in post-communist societies, with a focus on party development, authoritarianism, populism, and nationalism. Grisha is a sought-after commentator on Slovak politics for both domestic and international media outlets and has authored numerous publications, including the acclaimed Global Reports on Slovakia. He has received prestigious fellowships, including the Reagan-Fascell Fellowship and the Taiwan Fellowship Program, for his comparative research on democratization. From September 2019 to June 2020, he was a visiting fellow of the Institute for Human Science – Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Vienna) at the Europe’s Futures program.