Dr. Leonid Peisakhin works on legacies of conflict and violence, post-conflict reconciliation, political identities, and issues related to media bias. Geographically, much of his work is focused on Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, although he is also working on projects in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Peisakhin's research examines how political identities and persistent patterns of political behavior are created and manipulated by the state.
Peisakhin is currently finishing a book project, titled Contested Nationhood: Imperial Legacies and Conflicting Political Identities in Ukraine, on the persistence of imperial-era political identities in Ukraine, some of which are at the root of the ongoing conflict over Ukraine’s statehood and future political trajectory. This project draws on a natural experiment of history that divided a homogenous population of ethnic Ukrainians between Russian and Austrian empires. In addition, jointly with Noam Lupu, Peisakhin is also working on a book manuscript on inter-generational persistence of victim identities and on the impact of these identities on political behavior. The project draws on multi-generational surveys in Cambodia, Crimea, and Guatemala.
Peisakhin's research combines multiple methods including experiments, surveys, ethnography, and archival research. His work has appeared in such venues as the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Law and Economics.