Dr John Kennedy

Dr John Kennedy is a Research Leader in the Defence and Security Group at RAND Europe. RAND Europe is a not-for-profit research organisation that helps improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

John previously worked as an independent researcher and Senior Associate at Eastern Advisory Group, where he focussed on the Russian political economy. He has also served at the UK’s Department for International Trade where he held policy and national security roles covering the Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Turkey, and Iran; at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory where he was a Senior Strategic Analyst; and as a political consultant with a focus on the UK’s defence industry.

John completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies (CREES). He is a specialist in the economic policy, business-state relations, and industrial development of Russia. His recent book, Business Culture in Putin’s Russia, was published in 2021 by Routledge. He is currently writing an article on Russia’s response to Western economic pressure. His research interests include the politics, international and trading relations of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.