John LechnerJohn Lechner holds
an MS in Foreign Service (MSFS) from Georgetown University. He is an expert on
Russia's growing influence in Africa, and speaks fluent Russian; advanced
French, Turkish, and Georgian; and conversational Bosnian-Croaian-Serbian
(BCS), Chechen, German, and Sango (the lingua franca of the Central African
Republic). He currently works as a freelance journalist and researcher,
reporting on the Central African Republic (CAR) and Libya. He is an expert on
the history, languages, and politics of Central Africa, Turkey, and the former
Soviet Union. You can find his articles published in Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, Kyiv Post, The Diplomat, Africa is a Country, African Arguments, The National Interest,
and Defense One,
among others. He resides in Washington, D.C.