Assistant Professor Dr. Jovan Bliznakovski is an Assistant Professor in Political Science and has been working at the Institute for Sociological, Political, and Legal Studies (ISSP) since 2019. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Milan, Italy, and a Master’s degree from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science at the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje. Dr. Bliznakovski has several years of experience working in the Macedonian think tank sector and is the author of several studies on interethnic relations in Macedonia, political clientelism in Western Balkan societies, and the “Nations in Transit” reports for Macedonia (2017-2022) published by Freedom House. He is a co-editor of the collections “We vs. Others: Symbolic Divisions in North Macedonia” (CINIK Skopje, 2020) and “Political Clientelism in the Western Balkans: Collection of Papers” (ISSP Skopje, 2021). From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Program Director at the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” Skopje (IDSC).