About

About me

I am an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies, SOAS University of London, where I am working on the book manuscript “Amir Timur in Shanghai” based on my PhD on agency and coloniality in China-Uzbekistan normative encounters.

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher working on global anti-hegemonic sentiment (focus on Sinophobia and Anti-Americanism) with Dr Jamie Gruffydd-Jones, with whom I am writing a co-authored book on the subject. I am also affiliated with the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI), and the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs. I am a co-convenor of BISA’s East Europe and Eurasia (EEES) working group.

I hold a PhD in Politics and International Relations (University of Sheffield), which I conducted thanks to an ESRC White Rose DTP Pathway Award for a thesis titled “Amir Timur in Shanghai: Locating agency in Uzbekistan-China relations”. My work critiques the top-down dimension of Chinese normative power by focusing on Uzbekistan’s normative agency in its relations with the People’s Republic of China. My research agenda revolves around three key themes:
1) the political economy of South-South cooperation;
2) the political economy of collective imaginaries, public opinion and political communication (machine learning/LLMs);
3) grassroots and elite normative power and agency in the Global Majority.

I hold an MA in Social Research (University of Sheffield), an MA in International Relations (University of Bologna) and a BA in Chinese language, culture and society (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice). I was also a visiting scholar at the Renmin University of China (Beijing-2016), George Washington University (Washington DC-2022), the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (Tashkent-2022/2025), Universidad Austral (Buenos Aires-2025), Nazarbayev University (Astana-2025), and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (2025).

I have also worked with policymakers (UK FCDO and Parliament, US Department of State, Italian MFA and Parliament) and private sector organisations such as Global Partners Governance in London, UK, or Central Asian Barometer in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on projects connected with China’s role in Central Asia. I regularly engage with media such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Voice of America, The Diplomat, Vlast, the Globe and Mail, RAI Radio Tre, and Der Standard.

I am a member of the Board of Directors of ASIAC – Italian Association for Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus, and of the editorial board of the journal Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Latest Publications:

– Globalizations. (2025). Decentring narratives of (de)globalization and crisis: Uzbekistan’s ‘everyday’ political economy amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine.

– UK Government’s China Audit. (2025). Engaging plural China with industrial cooperation, investment in localised research and specialised diplomatic teams. London: Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK Parliament.

– Studies on Central Asia and the Caucasus. (2025). “Uzbekistan joins the Global Majority: A protagonist of reglobalisation?”. Vol. 2.

– Central Asia Barometer. (2024). “Beyond the Silk Road: Navigating the Complexities of Central Asia’s Public Opinion on China”. With J. Neafie, R. Gabdulhakov, I. Supyaldiyarov, and K. Sheraliev.

– Central Asian Survey. (2024). “Central Asian Studies in the People’s Republic of China: A Structural Topic Model”. (With B. Jardine).

– The International Spectator. (2024). “Changing Images? Italian Twitter Discourse on China and the United States During the First Wave of COVID-19”. (With G. Sciorati and C.R. Combei).