Associated researchers

Louis Wierenga

Louis Wierenga is a Lecturer in International Relations at the Baltic Defence College and a political analyst at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, where he is completing his PhD. His research interests include NATO, European and Baltic Sea Region security issues, US foreign policy, and the global security environment. Previously Louis has researched populist radical right parties - specifically leadership and party structure, social media and discursive opportunity structures, youth organizations, transnational networks, foreign policy, and social movement parties and metapolitical actors and their engagements between ideology and party structures. Louis is currently a researcher for the Horizon Europe project, REMIT ‘Reignite Multilateralism via Technology’, which analyzes addressing global problems through technology. He has previously held a Horizon 2020 Junior Research Fellowship for POPREBEL "Populist Rebellion Against Modernity". Previously he has held guest fellowships at Uppsala University’s IRES (Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies), Sodertorn University’s Department of Political Science; and with the Chair of Comparative Politics at European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). Louis has also held guest lecturer positions at the University of Latvia and the Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). Louis received his MA from the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and his BA in history and European Studies from York University in Toronto Canada. Prior to entering academia, Louis served in the United States Marine Corps.