Allison Hart (USA)is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Most recently, she has worked as a Title VIII Black Sea Fellow hosted by the Middle East Institute, funded by the US State Department. During the fellowship, she conducted two months of fieldwork in Tbilisi, Georgia, where her project focused on the legacies of the Rose Revolution and how they manifest in present-day Georgia. Her research has largely focused on Black Sea maritime security, Russian influence in the MENA region, legacies of the Soviet Union in former USSR states, and Russia’s role in the Black Sea.