Dr. Pietro A. Shakarian is an American historian, author, and researcher specializing in the political and social history of Russia, the Soviet Union, Armenia, and the Caucasus. He earned his Ph.D. in History from The Ohio State University, held a postdoctoral fellowship in St. Petersburg, Russia, and currently serves as a lecturer in history at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. His academic research focuses heavily on the Caucasus region during the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular emphasis on domestic reforms and cultural developments during the Khrushchev Thaw era. He is the author of Anastas Mikoyan: Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev’s Kremlin, a comprehensive study analyzing the legacy of the prominent Soviet statesman, and his commentary on Eurasian geopolitics has been featured in major publications like The Nation.