Hi, I'm Urte Peteris (PhD).
I research foreign propaganda.
I am a scholar of international relations with a PhD in Political Science (Columbia University). My work explores how propaganda and information operations work as international communication.
I study how foreign propaganda strategies can be categorized, how and why states devise, deploy, and evaluate their own propaganda strategies, and how they respond to the strategies of allies and adversaries. I also research covert action, hybrid warfare, and civil-military affairs. I have a regional interest in Eastern Europe, particularly the Baltic States and Russia.
I am currently teaching at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia. Before starting my PhD, I worked as a researcher for the European Commission, the US Department of State, and the Streit Council. I hold BA degrees in Political Science, History and International Relations from the University of Miami, as well as an MA and MPhil in Political Science from Columbia University.
Research →
Dissertation
My dissertation project proposes a theoretical framework for foreign propaganda as political communication, based on the strategic and organizational factors that shape propaganda efforts. It explores the variation of foreign propaganda strategies, focusing on how states employ propaganda as both a communicative and political process in foreign policy. I argue that foreign propaganda is an interactive and social process in international relations, whether it takes the shape of newspapers, pamphlets, radio and television broadcasts, music, paintings, or tweets.
Works in Progress
"Typologizing Foreign Propaganda in RFE Cold War Broadcasts to Poland"
Research on how the radio broadcasts devised and disseminated by Radio Free Europe's Polish desk in 1955-1972 reflected the receptivity and information environment of their audiences.
"Implausible Deniability: Association, Attribution, and Punishment in Covert Action"
Research on the mechanisms through which Russian hybrid, information, and deniability strategies facilitated the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea on tactical, operational, and political-strategic levels.
Teaching →
Instructor, Columbia University
Conceptual Foundations of International Relations (Fall 2020 - Present)
Teaching Assistant, Columbia University
American Foreign Policy (Spring 2020)
International Politics (Spring 2019)
Teaching Assistant, Barnard College
International Politics (Fall 2019)
Democracy & Dictatorship in Europe (Fall 2018)
