Live From Santa Monica: Episode #102 - Steve Swerdlow

In this special episode, the podcast welcomes USC Professor Steve Swerdlow and several of his insightful students to delve into the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Kamila Fomin, a Ukrainian student, and Mané Berikyan, an Armenian student,  offer their personal perspectives on these complex and pressing issues, adding a unique and valuable layer to the conversation. Join us as we explore the current status of these conflicts and gain a deeper understanding of the human impact they have on those directly affected. Steve Swerdlow is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California. A human rights lawyer and expert on the former Soviet region, Swerdlow was Senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, heading the organization’s work on Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and founding its Kyrgyzstan field office. Swerdlow has worked as a consultant with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Earlier Swerdlow was a fellow in the U.S. State Department’s Young Leaders for Public Service program in Russia and worked as a human rights monitor for the Union of Council for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) as their Caucasus monitor in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia as well as with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Russia.