Staff
Gregory Feifer has observed Russia for many years, including as an ICWA fellow in 2000 – 2002. A former institute board member, he was also NPR’s Moscow correspondent who reported on Russia’s resurgence under Vladimir Putin, observing the effects of the country’s vast new oil wealth on an increasingly nationalistic society as well as the Kremlin’s rekindling of a new Cold War-style opposition to the West. He has also reported from Ukraine and many other former Soviet republics. Later, as senior correspondent at Radio Free Europe in Prague, Feifer investigated Russian influence in Europe, including the Kremlin’s use of energy as an instrument of foreign policy. Feifer’s book Russians: The Power behind the People (Twelve, 2014) explores the seeming paradoxes of life in Russia by unraveling the nature of its people and what it is in their history, desires and conception of themselves that makes them baffling to the West. His other books include The Great Gamble (HarperCollins, 2009), a history of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and Spy Handler (Basic Books, 2005) co-written with former KGB colonel Victor Cherkashin. He has written for numerous other outlets, including The New York Times, Foreign Affairs and The Washington Post. Educated at Harvard University and currently an associate of Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian Studies, he lives in Washington with his wife Elizabeth, son Sebastian and daughter Vanessa. Follow him on Bluesky at @gregoryfeifer.bsky.social.
Bruce Teeter has provided operational support for small and medium-sized organizations for several years. Earlier he managed bookstores serving local college students, developing strong interpersonal and management skills and a passion for being involved with the community. Bruce has extensive experience working with diverse and international groups. He earned a B.S. in Engineering and Business Administration at East Carolina University, and later Nonprofit Management at Drexel University. Bruce works with youth groups as a certified basketball official. He also helps small and startup organizations in the DC area and serves on the Board of Tech Turn Up, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching STEAM subjects to underserved communities.
Steven Tagle is a writer and photographer living in Switzerland. He was an ICWA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellow in Greece (2021-2023) based in the Evros region and islands of Chios and Crete, from where he explored the culture, history and economies of the country’s border zones and their importance to national politics, society, economics and geopolitics, including Greece’s mounting role in the Eastern Mediterranean and transatlantic alliance. Before his fellowship, Steven served as speechwriter for the US Embassy in Athens and worked the Stavros Niarchos Foundation-funded New Agriculture for a New Generation program, Anatolia College and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also received an Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship to Greece and a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. He has written for The Common, Bomb, them, the Los Angeles Review of Books and Nea Estia. Originally from Yorba Linda, California, Steven is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts MFA for Poets and Writers.
Elizabeth Wise is a former correspondent for The Associated Press and the Economist Group, covering the European Union from Brussels, living in France. Prior to that, she freelanced as a war correspondent in East Africa, writing for the Financial Times and Guardian newspapers. Her interest in human rights led to community work in West Africa, rights assessments in Jordan, and research for asylum seekers in Europe. Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied art history, and the Columbia University School of Journalism.
Robert Coalson is an experienced journalist and analyst with a focus on Russia and the former Soviet countries. From 2002 until 2024, he worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, primarily writing news and analysis on political and social issues in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Earlier, he was editor in chief of The St. Petersburg (Russia) Times from 2000 to 2002, overseeing the editorial direction of the twice-weekly paper and managing the editorial team. From 1995-2000, he was print media director of the USAID-funded Media Development Project, providing business-development assistance to independent newspapers throughout Russia. He holds a Masters degree in Russian literature from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian and East European studies from Grinnell College.
Gregory Feifer has observed Russia for many years, including as an ICWA fellow in 2000 – 2002. A former institute board member, he was also NPR’s Moscow correspondent who reported on Russia’s resurgence under Vladimir Putin, observing the effects of the country’s vast new oil wealth on an increasingly nationalistic society as well as the Kremlin’s rekindling of a new Cold War-style opposition to the West. He has also reported from Ukraine and many other former Soviet republics. Later, as senior correspondent at Radio Free Europe in Prague, Feifer investigated Russian influence in Europe, including the Kremlin’s use of energy as an instrument of foreign policy. Feifer’s book Russians: The Power behind the People (Twelve, 2014) explores the seeming paradoxes of life in Russia by unraveling the nature of its people and what it is in their history, desires and conception of themselves that makes them baffling to the West. His other books include The Great Gamble (HarperCollins, 2009), a history of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and Spy Handler (Basic Books, 2005) co-written with former KGB colonel Victor Cherkashin. He has written for numerous other outlets, including The New York Times, Foreign Affairs and The Washington Post. Educated at Harvard University and currently an associate of Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian Studies, he lives in Washington with his wife Elizabeth, son Sebastian and daughter Vanessa. Follow him on Bluesky at @gregoryfeifer.bsky.social.
Bruce Teeter has provided operational support for small and medium-sized organizations for several years. Earlier he managed bookstores serving local college students, developing strong interpersonal and management skills and a passion for being involved with the community. Bruce has extensive experience working with diverse and international groups. He earned a B.S. in Engineering and Business Administration at East Carolina University, and later Nonprofit Management at Drexel University. Bruce works with youth groups as a certified basketball official. He also helps small and startup organizations in the DC area and serves on the Board of Tech Turn Up, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching STEAM subjects to underserved communities.
Steven Tagle is a writer and photographer living in Switzerland. He was an ICWA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Fellow in Greece (2021-2023) based in the Evros region and islands of Chios and Crete, from where he explored the culture, history and economies of the country’s border zones and their importance to national politics, society, economics and geopolitics, including Greece’s mounting role in the Eastern Mediterranean and transatlantic alliance. Before his fellowship, Steven served as speechwriter for the US Embassy in Athens and worked the Stavros Niarchos Foundation-funded New Agriculture for a New Generation program, Anatolia College and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also received an Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship to Greece and a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. He has written for The Common, Bomb, them, the Los Angeles Review of Books and Nea Estia. Originally from Yorba Linda, California, Steven is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts MFA for Poets and Writers.
Elizabeth Wise is a former correspondent for The Associated Press and the Economist Group, covering the European Union from Brussels, living in France. Prior to that, she freelanced as a war correspondent in East Africa, writing for the Financial Times and Guardian newspapers. Her interest in human rights led to community work in West Africa, rights assessments in Jordan, and research for asylum seekers in Europe. Elizabeth is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied art history, and the Columbia University School of Journalism.
Robert Coalson is an experienced journalist and analyst with a focus on Russia and the former Soviet countries. From 2002 until 2024, he worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, primarily writing news and analysis on political and social issues in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Earlier, he was editor in chief of The St. Petersburg (Russia) Times from 2000 to 2002, overseeing the editorial direction of the twice-weekly paper and managing the editorial team. From 1995-2000, he was print media director of the USAID-funded Media Development Project, providing business-development assistance to independent newspapers throughout Russia. He holds a Masters degree in Russian literature from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian and East European studies from Grinnell College.