Nils Muižnieks

Director of Advanced Social and Political Research Institute, University of Latvia

Nils Muiznieks is director of the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute, the think tank of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Latvia, and chairman of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Council of Europe’s independent racism monitoring body. He has written extensively on Latvian-Russian relations and minority rights, integration and racism in Latvia and Europe. His most recent publications include three edited volumes: How Integrated is Latvian Society? An Audit of Successes, Failures and Challenges (2010), Manufacturing Enemy Images? Russian Media Portrayal of Latvia (2008) and Latvian-Russian Relations: Domestic and International Dimensions (2006). He is currently editing a new book entitled The Geopolitics of History in Latvian-Russian Relations. From 2002 to 2004 he was Minister of Social Integration in the government of Latvia. He has a PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, USA.