{{Short description|American and Canadian political scientist}}
'''Seva Gunitsky''' is an [[America]]n and [[Canada| Canadian]] political scientist.
Born in [[Leningrad]], Soviet Union (Vsevolod Gunitskiy<ref>Vsevolod Gunitskiy – ''Other names'', [[scholar.google.com]]: [https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=swMuG2AAAAAJ], [[academic.oup.com]]: [https://academic.oup.com/psq/article-abstract/125/1/163/6963765], academiccommons.[[columbia.edu]]: [https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8BZ6D01], jia.sipa.[[columbia.edu]]: [https://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/directory/vsevolod-gunitskiy], [[ratemyprofessors.com]]: [https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1731129]</ref>) he [[Immigration to the United States|migrated to the United States]] at the age of 10, right around the time of the 1991 [[August Putsch]].
Today he is an US citizen and Canadian permanent resident.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2018-11-30|title=A Country Illegible Even to Itself|url=https://inroadsjournal.ca/country-illegible-even/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=Inroads|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="politics.utoronto.ca"/><ref name="cv">[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/CV/seva_gunitsky_CV.pdf CV] at [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/ individual.utoronto.ca/seva]</ref>

After his B.A. in 2002 at the [[University of Michigan]], in Political Science and Economics he got his M.A. in Political Science at the [[Columbia University]] in 2006, New York, NY and Ph.D. in Political Science in 2011.<ref name="cv"/>

Since 2011 he is at the Department of Political Science, [[University of Toronto]] – as Assistant Professor (2011-2017), Associate Professor (since 2017), Faculty Affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (since 2025) and George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies (since 2025).<ref name="cv"/>

He was also Fung Global Fellow at the [[Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies]] (2014–15).<ref name="cv"/>

At the University of Toronto,<ref name=":1" /> he focuses his research on the ways global forces and international politics affect [[democracy]] and domestic politics.<ref name=":1" /> 

He is the author of ''Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century'', which examines how shocks in the international system affect [[Government|regime types]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Hyde|first1=Susan|last2=Edelstein|first2=David M.|last3=Lascurettes|first3=Kyle M.|last4=Gunitsky|first4=Seva|date=28 January 2019|title=Roundtable 10-22 on Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century|url=https://issforum.org/roundtables/10-22-aftershocks|access-date=2021-04-28|website=H-Diplo {{!}} ISSF|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ziblatt|first=Daniel|date=2019|title=Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century. By Seva Gunitsky. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2017. 304p. 29.95 paper.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/aftershocks-great-powers-and-domestic-reforms-in-the-twentieth-century-by-seva-gunitsky-princeton-princeton-university-press-2017-304p-9500-cloth-2995-paper/019B927FBC45AA2A4A0675A69B7550B4|journal=Perspectives on Politics|language=en|volume=17|issue=2|pages=495–497|doi=10.1017/S1537592719001348|s2cid=182125875|issn=1537-5927|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The book was selected by ''Foreign Affairs'' magazine as one of the best books of 2017.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Seva Gunitsky--University of Toronto--Home|url=http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=individual.utoronto.ca/seva}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-07-06|title=The Best of Books 2017|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/anthologies/2017-12-15/best-books-2017|access-date=2021-04-28|website=Foreign Affairs|language=en}}</ref>

Gunitsky is a frequent commentator on [[Politics of Russia|Russian politics]] and foreign policy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Follow the (Russian) Money {{!}} Money Talking|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/follow-russian-money/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=WNYC|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2017|title=Russian spies may have backed email phishing campaign in effort to spread disinformation|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/phishing-falsified-documents-citizen-lab-tainted-leaks-russia-1.4130748}}</ref><ref name="politics.utoronto.ca">{{Cite web|date=2014-04-01|title=Seva Gunitsky discusses Ukraine with the CBC|url=https://politics.utoronto.ca/2014/04/in-the-news-seva-gunitsky-interviewed-by-cbc-on-ukraine/|access-date=2021-04-28|website=Department of Political Science|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Yuhas|first=Alan|date=2019-09-26|title=How Did Ukraine Land in the Middle of an American Political Drama?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/world/europe/ukraine-zelensky-trump.html|access-date=2021-04-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Fisher|first=Max|date=2019-01-05|title=After a Rocky 2018, Populism Is Down but Far From Out in the West|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/world/europe/populism-voters-global.html|access-date=2021-04-28|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
He publishes commentary and analysis in ''The Washington Post'', ''Foreign Affairs'', ''The New Republic''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/search?query=gunitsky&btn-search=&facets=%7B%22time%22%3A%22all%22%2C%22sort%22%3A%22relevancy%22%2C%22section%22%3A%5B%5D%2C%22author%22%3A%5B%5D%7D |title=Search - The Washington Post |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-03-23/weakness-strongman| title = The Weakness of Strongmen in Russia and China Bodes Well for Democracy {{!}} Foreign Affairs| date = 25 March 2020| last1 = Casey| first1 = Adam E.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/148140/one-word-fix-us-russia-policy|title = One Word to Improve U.S. Russia Policy|magazine = The New Republic|date = 27 April 2018|last1 = Gunitsky|first1 = Seva}}</ref> and other – 
''The New York Times, <!--The Washington Post,--> USA Today, Vox.com, Bloomberg, Maclean's, CBC News, Toronto Globe and Mail, Vice, Toronto Star, The National Post''.
Television: ''CBC News, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, CTV News, Sun News''.<ref name="cv"/>

== Trivia ==
On [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] he spoke about having to relearn Russian after immigration, a common problem for [[Russophone]] immigrant children.<ref name=":0" />

==Publications==

===Book<!--s-->===
* Seva Gunitsky: ''[https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172330/aftershocks Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century],'' Series: ''[https://press.princeton.edu/series/princeton-studies-in-international-history-and-politics Princeton Studies in International History and Politics]'', [[Princeton University Press]], 2017

===Articles===
* on ''[[Measuring democracy]]''<!--#redirect [[Democracy indices]], as long as not deleted..--> (see also ''[[Measuring democracy#Problems and challenges of measuring democracy, seeking for ways out|Problems and challenges of measuring democracy, seeking for ways out]]'' there)
** ''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/06/23/how-do-you-measure-democracy/?utm_term=.3fde8b8a08d2 How do you measure ‘democracy’?]'' [[The Monkey Cage]], [[Washington Post]], June 24, 2015.
** ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/dem_measures.pdf Lost in the Grey Zone: Competing Measures of Democracy in the Former Soviet Republics]''. In ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ranking-the-world/CC428C9015C2D6656218795F649D9BBC Ranking the World: Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance]'', edited by [[Alexander Cooley]] and [[Jack Snyder (political scientist)|Jack Snyder]]. [[Cambridge University Press]], 2015

* with [[Semuhi Sinanoglu]]: ''[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/redeem/KXBDdKy2ZZE The Personalist Global Order]'', [[Foreign Affairs]], January 26. 2026. 

* ''[https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/16/trump-iran-protests-intervention-kurds-nixon-kissinger-hungary/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtaXJhbi1wcm90ZXN0cy1pbnRlcnZlbnRpb24ta3VyZHMtbml4b24ta2lzc2luZ2VyLWh1bmdhcnk=&pid=PNI1bixlkt4ujc3 A Long History of Betrayal: Why Washington keeps encouraging foreign uprisings—and then walking away]''. [[Foreign Policy]], January 16. 2026. 

* with Semuhi Sinanoglu, [[Sahib Jafarov]]: ''[https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/28/democracy-prosecution-crimes-sarkozy-trump-berlusconi/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=ZGVtb2NyYWN5LXByb3NlY3V0aW9uLWNyaW1lcy1zYXJrb3p5LXRydW1wLWJlcmx1c2Nvbmk=&pid=PNI1bixlkt4ujc3 Prosecuting the Powerful: Historical data shows putting leaders on trial is a healthy democratic practice]''. [[Foreign Policy]], October 28. 2025. 

* with [[Kyungwon Suh]], [[Ryan D. Griffiths]]: ''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03050629.2025.2509964 Hegemonic Shocks and Patterns of Secession]''. [[International Interactions]] 51(4):568-597 (October 2025) 

* with Ryan D. Griffiths: ''[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/redeem/kT7TmpFU-RI The New Price of Statehood]''. [[Foreign Affairs]], May 20, 2025. [https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/caleao3zjyh02e35qic8k/the-new-price-of-statehood.pdf?rlkey=d762xmqrqdjcy7gux4h82xl71&st=fhbfve1c&dl=0 PDF]

* with [[Anna Lysenko]]: ''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1060586X.2025.2503658 The Invisible Front: Ukraine's IT Army and the Evolution of Cyber Resistance].'' [[Post-Soviet Affairs]] 41(4):263-288 (November 2025) [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/Invisible_Front.pdf PDF] 

* ''[https://newrepublic.com/article/193334/trump-greenland-canada-annex-ukraine The Forgotten Dystopian Vision That Explains Trump's Canada Obsession]''. [[The New Republic]], March 31, 2025.

* ''[http://inroadsjournal.ca/country-illegible-even/ A Country Illegible Even to Itself]''. (Review of The Future Is History by Masha Gessen.) [[Inroads]] 44. Dec 2018. [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/illegible_to_itself.pdf PDF]

* with [[Andrei Tsygankov]]: ''[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10758216.2018.1468270 The Wilsonian Bias in the Study of US Foreign Policy]''. [[Problems of Post-Communism]] 65.6:385-393. Dec 2018 [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/wilsonian_bias.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/democratic-waves-in-historical-perspective/9452AFC439DD960F4D219246A7E7F51E Democratic Waves in Historical Perspective]''. [[Perspectives on Politics]] 16.3:634-651. Sep 2018 [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/democratic_waves.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0163660X.2018.1484233?journalCode=rwaq20 Democracy's Future: Riding the Hegemonic Wave]''. [[The Washington Quarterly]] 41.2:115-135. July 2018. [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/hegemonic_wave.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://newrepublic.com/article/148140/one-word-fix-us-russia-policy One Word to Improve US Russia Policy]''. [[The New Republic]], April 27, 2018.

* ''[https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/false-dawn-international-law-revisiting-doomed-kellogg-briand-pact/ The False Dawn of International Law]''. (Review of ''The Internationalists'' by [[Oona Hathaway]] and [[Scott Shapiro]]). [[War on the Rocks]], January 15, 2018.

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/gunitsky_ISQsymposium.pdf Defining the State: It's a Family Affair]''. In ''Comparing International Systems in World History'', ISQ Online Symposium, November 28, 2017

* ''[https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/08/24/the-lost-leviathan/ The Lost Leviathan]''. (Review of ''The H-Word'' by [[Perry Anderson]]). [[The American Interest]], August 24, 2017. [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/TheLostLeviathanAug24_2017.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/12/these-are-the-three-reasons-that-fascism-spread-in-1930s-america-and-might-spread-again-today/ These are the three reasons fascism spread in 1930s America – and might spread again today]''. [[The Monkey Cage]], [[Washington Post]], August 12, 2017.

* ''[http://duckofminerva.com/2017/07/trump-and-the-russian-money-trail.html Trump and the Russian Money Trail]''. [[Duck of Minerva]], July 14, 2017.

* ''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/04/06/what-mondays-subway-bombings-mean-for-putins-russia/ What Monday's subway bombings mean for Putin's Russia]''. [[The Monkey Cage]], [[Washington Post]], April 6, 2017

* ''[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/how-to-unfreeze-canadas-strategy-in-ukraine/article34364245/ How to unfreeze Canada's strategy in Ukraine]''. [[The Globe and Mail]], March 20, 2017.

* with [[Tanisha Fazal]]: ''[http://politicalviolenceataglance.org/2017/03/13/how-norms-die/ How Norms Die]''. [[Political Violence @ A Glance]], March 13, 2017.

* ''[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/03/30/social-media-helps-dictators-not-just-protesters/ Social media helps dictators, not just protestors]''. [[The Monkey Cage]], [[Washington Post]], March 30, 2015.

* ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/corrupting-the-cybercommons-social-media-as-a-tool-of-autocratic-stability/CD2CCFAB91935ED3E533B2CBB3F8A4F5 Corrupting the Cyber-Commons: Social Media as a Tool of Autocratic Resilience]''. [[Perspectives on Politics]] 13.1:42-54. March 2015 [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/corrupting_cybercommons.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/from-shocks-to-waves-hegemonic-transitions-and-democratization-in-the-twentieth-century/DC80A16B8DE79A7498B82B7F80FBE111 From Shocks to Waves: Hegemonic Transitions and Democratization in the Twentieth Century]''. [[International Organization]] 68.3:561-97. July 2014 [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/shocks_to_waves.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-theory/article/complexity-and-theories-of-change-in-international-politics/7B2FB840CF4019B959A23DC03D5AE260 Complexity and Theories of Change in International Politics]''. [[International Theory]] 5.1:35-63. March 2013. [http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/complexity_IR.pdf PDF]

* ''[https://issforum.org/roundtables/4-4-how-enemies-become-friends Review of How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace by Charles A. Kupchan]'', H-Diplo/ISSF Roundtable 4.4, October 25, 2012.

* ''[http://themonkeycage.org/2012/06/13/an-arab-spring-in-moscow/ An Arab Spring in Moscow?]'' [[The Monkey Cage]], [[Washington Post]], June 13, 2012

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/power_n329.pdf Security Dilemma]''. In ''[https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/power/toc The Encyclopedia of Power]'', ed. by [[Keith Dowding]]. Thousand Oaks, CA: [[Sage Press]], 2011.

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/right2rule_FULL.pdf Review of The Right to Rule: How States Win and Lose Legitimacy] by [[Bruce Gilley]]''. [[Political Science Quarterly]] 125.1, Spring 2010, p. 163-5.878-9. 

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/on_thin_ice.pdf On Thin Ice: Water Rights and Resource Disputes in the Arctic Ocean]''. [[Journal of International Affairs]] 61.2, Spring 2008, p. 261-271.

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/2006_JIA.pdf Review of Insurance Against Poverty] by [[Stefan Dercon]]'', ed., [[Journal of International Affairs]] 59.2, Spring 2006, p. 347-50. 

* ''[http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/gunstobriefcases.pdf From Guns to Briefcases: The Evolution of Russian Organized Crime]''. [[World Policy Journal]] 21.1, Spring 2004, p. 68-74.

* ''[http://nationalinterest.org/article/the-lessons-of-chechnya-in-iraq-a-realist-approach-to-civilian-warfare-2482 The Lessons of Chechnya in Iraq: A Realist Approach to Civilian Warfare]''. [[The National Interest]], November 19, 2003.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunitsky, Seva}}
[[Category:American political scientists]]
[[Category:Canadian political scientists]]
[[Category:Russian political scientists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American international relations scholars]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]