Anna Verdanyan

Anna Vardanyan is an experienced Armenian political journalist and researcher who has specialised
in defence policy, international relations and security in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus for over 15
years. She has worked for several prominent Armenian media outlets and held advisory roles in the
National Assembly of Armenia. She has held research fellowships in Germany and Poland, including
on a project examining the geopolitical implications of Western border policy. Her current research
within the 'Ambivalent Enmity' programme at Heidelberg University examines the construction of
enemy images and the use of hostile speech in the media during ethnic conflicts in post-Soviet states.
Her aim is to apply interdisciplinary methods to understand how media-driven enmity shapes public
opinion and conflict dynamics.