Bohdan Nahajlo (uses Nahaylo when publishing) is a British-born and educated journalist, political analyst and former senior UN official with 20 years of experience and achievements in the policy advice, diplomatic, conflict resolution, humanitarian, development and refugee/migration-related spheres.
A writer, broadcaster, and historian, he is a leading specialist on Ukraine and the former Soviet Union, being the author of two books and numerous articles, reports and analyses.
After postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he started his professional career as a Researcher for Amnesty International and became a regular contributor to the British and US press and academic publications. From 1989 to 1991 he was the Director of Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian Service in Munich.
In 1994, he was appointed a senior policy adviser for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (on the former Soviet region and its interface with the European Union) in Geneva and later served as UNHCR’s Representative in Belarus, Azerbaijan and Angola. In 2014-15 he was Chief of the UN’s Department of Political Affairs Team in Ukraine.
Subsequently, he was Visiting Professor at the Geneva School of Diplomacy, and Country Representative in Kyiv for the German international NGO Democracy Reporting International.
He is based mainly in Kyiv, with a home in Barcelona, and now works as a journalist and consultant.
In addition to his excellent academic, writing, broadcasting, analytical and communication competencies, and extensive diplomatic and negotiating experience, he has solid strategic leadership, managerial, program, evaluation and security management and training, skills.
Apart from his native English, he is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and French.
Author of:
Soviet Disunion: A History of the Nationalities Problem in the USSR (with Victor Swoboda) Hamish-Hamilton London, 1990; hardback; The Free Press, New York, 1990; hardback; Rizzoli, Milan, 1991; hardback; Akasi Shoten, Tokyo, 1993; hardback; Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1994; paperback.
The Ukrainian Resurgence, C. Hurst & Co., London, 1999; paperback; University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Buffalo, 1999; hardback; a detailed an authoritative 600-page modern history
Author of numerous articles, including book reviews, in the international press; was a columnist for The Spectator; about 175 articles and analyses published between 1983 and 1984 in the RFE/RL Research Bulletin, and its successor, the RFE/RL Research Report; articles in UNHCR publications; scripts for BBC World Service; reports for the Minorities Rights Group, Royal Institute for International Affairs, and USAID. Numerous scholarly articles. Has had several regular programmes of his own on Ukrainian radio stations; a contributor to the Kyiv Post, The Odessa Review, Panorama, and other English-language publications produced in Ukraine, as well as Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert, Asia Times and Ukrainian Weekly.