Vladimir Socor (born 3 August 1945 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

Vladimir Socor - Curriculum Vitae
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country, transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Wester ...

) is a Romanian-American

political analyst Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

East Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

an affairs for the

Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, whic ...

and its ''Eurasia Daily Monitor'', currently residing in Munich, Germany. Author information in Jamestown Foundation: Vladimir Socor
Socor's main specialization focuses on the political affairs and the

ethnic conflict An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positio ...

s of the former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

republics and the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010 ...

Early life and education

Vladimir Socor is the son of Matei Socor, who, as head of the

Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company ( ro, Societatea Română de Radiodifuziune), informally referred to as Radio Romania ( ro, Radio România), is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates FM and AM, and internet national and lo ...

-was involved in the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comin ...

's propaganda apparatus, according to the findings of the Tismăneanu Commission. Socor graduated from the Russian School in Bucharest, received a B.A. in History from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely ...

, and after leaving Romania legally in 1972, he received a Master of Philosophy in East European History from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1977.

Career

He worked as an analyst for the

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

Research Institute in Munich (1983–1994) and at the Jamestown Foundation in Washington, D.C. (1995–2002). Between 2002 and 2004, Socor worked as a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies in Washington, D.C. Since 2000, he has contributed articles to the European edition of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. Socor is also critical of Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

's policies regarding the Post-Soviet space and their frozen conflictsmost notably in the separatist enclaves of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...

, and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a international recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partially recognised Landlocked country, ...

. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

'' journalist Edward Lucas describes Socor as "a hawkish pro-Moldovan." Vladimir Socor was involved in the polemics with the former head of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE) mission in

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

, William Hill, during which Socor criticized OSCE policies in regard to Moldova, and in return was accused by Hill of fallacies and outrageous fabrications.Ambassador William Hill’s Response To Vladimir Socor
''

Eurasia Daily Monitor The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, whi ...

'', 1 August 2005

Selected reports

* * "The Workers' Protest in Brașov: Assessment and Aftermath", Romania Background Report 231, Radio Free Europe Research, 4 December 1987, pp. 3–10.
Kremlin Refining Policy in 'Post-Soviet Space'

, February 8, 2005
Russian organizations in Transnistria campaign for a second Kaliningrad
Eurasia Daily Monitor, August 11, 2006
Kyiv changing ideas, mixing signals on Odessa-Brody oil pipeline
Eurasia Daily Monitor November 16, 2006
Trans-Black Sea pipeline can bring Caspian gas to Europe
Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume 3, Number 226, December 7, 2006

References

External links

Articles by Vladimir Socor
at Eurasia Daily Monitor
Vladimir Socor
at Moldova Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Socor, Vladimir 1945 births Living people Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian people of Armenian descent Romanian people of Jewish descent American male journalists American people of Armenian descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent University of Bucharest alumni Columbia University alumni Journalists from Bucharest Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty people Romanian emigrants to Germany American emigrants to Germany