Mikhail Minakov (also known as Mykhailo Minakov; born on October 6, 1971) is a political philosopher residing in Kyiv and Milan. His primary philosophical inquiries focus on human experience, social knowledge, political systems, historical consciousness, and multiple modernities.
Current affiliations
- DAAD Guest-Professor, European University Viadrina
- Editor-in-Chief of Ideology and Politics Journal
- Editor-in-Chief of Koine.Community platform
Biography
Mikhail Minakov grew up in the village of Otradnoye in the Zaporizhzhya oblast. After four years of study, he graduated from Zaporizhzhya Medical School in 1990 and worked as a village doctor (feldsher). That same year, he began studying history and sociology at Zaporizhzhya State University. In 1992, Mikhail Minakov entered Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, where he pursued philosophy, political science, sociology, and comparative literature. Here, he earned a BA in Philosophy in 1996 and an MA in Philosophy in 1998.
Academic Career
Mikhail Minakov began his academic career as a part-time Assistant Professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in 2001 after defending his Candidate Dissertation (Kant’s Problem of the Faith of Reason) at the Kyiv Institute of Philosophy. That same year, he published his first book ‘Vchennia Kanta pro viru rizumu‘ (from Ukrainian: Kant’s Teaching on the Faith of Reason).
In 2007, Dr. Minakov defended his Doctoral Dissertation (‘Dosvid i filosofia: evoluzia poniattia dosvidu v zahidnii filosofii XIX-XX st.’, from Ukrainian: Experience and Philosophy: Evolution of the Concept of Experience in Western Philosophy of 19th–20th centuries). After that, he joined the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy as an Associate Professor, and then Professor in 2017-18. The same year, Prof. Minakov published his second book ‘Istoriia poniattia dosvidu‘ (from Ukrainian: History of the Concept of Experience).
Between 2010 and 2014, Prof. Minakov collaborated with several Western universities: Harvard University (visiting scholar in 2010 and 2013, visiting professor in 2012), Greifswald University (visiting professor in 2010 and 2014), and the Wilson Center for International Scholars (Fulbright-Kennan Scholar in 2012-2013).
In 2011, Mikhail Minakov became a founding Editor-in-Chief of a scholarly peer-reviewed journal ‘Ideology and Politics.’ The Ideology and Politics Journal seeks to establish an interdisciplinary platform for debates among informed and non-partisan researchers in the fields of social philosophy, political science, sociology, political economy, intellectual history, and cultural studies. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding of socio-political processes in post-Soviet Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine, it addresses the ideological and intellectual issues that arise during the formation of new societies.
In 2012-2018, Mikhail Minakov worked as Director of Krytyka Institute and Representative for the Harvard Ukraine Initiative. Krytyka is a Kyiv-based Ukrainian-language journal of intellectual essays, book reviews, and political and literary criticism; a research institute – the Krytyka Institute – that promotes scholarship in Ukrainian studies around the world; and a publishing house – Krytyka Press – that is committed to publishing cutting-edge scholarship in history, culture, literature, and political and media studies. The main purposes of the potential Harvard Ukraine program is to pursue excellence in research and education in the area of Ukrainian Studies, to identify and utilize both academic and research resources, and to foster scholarly involvement of both faculty and students in Ukraine.
Mikhail Minakov was a Fellow at Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute (2010, 2013), Kennan Institute (2012-13) and Krupp Wisseschaftskolleg Greifswald (2013-2014).
Minakov was Associate Professor and, later, Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy) between 2001-2017 ((Assistant Professor (2001–2007), Associate Professor (2007–2016), Professor (2016–2018)). Courses thought in philosophy: ‘Contemporary Western Philosophy’, ‘Political Epistemology’, ‘Philosophy of History’, ‘Philosophy of Kant’, ‘German Classical Philosophy’, ‘Contemporary Epistemology’. Courses thought in history and politics: ‘Methods of Political Analysis for Practitioners’, ‘History of Post-Soviet Countries’, ‘Post-Soviet Politics’. In 2018 Minakov left the position of Professor while accepting the position of Principal Investigator on Ukraine at Kennan Institute.
Mikhail Minakov was a DAAD Guest-Professor at the European University Viadrina (2017-19) and a Visiting Professor at the Pavia University (2022-2023). In 2023, Minakov got Italian habilitiation as Associate Professor (2nda fascia) in the history of international relations and political philosophy.
For about eight years, Between October 2017 and March 2025, Mikhail Minakov served as a Senior Advisor and Principal Investigator on Ukraine at Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Washington, DC (Europe-based fellow) and as an Editor-in-chief, Kennan Focus Ukraine. Also, in that period he served as a Vice Chairperson and Member of the Academic Council, Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS, Berlin).
In 2025, Minakov returned to the European University Viadrina as DAAD Guest-Professor.
Outside Academia
Prof. Minakov combined his academic career with work in program management and political consulting. He worked at Eurasia Foundation (Assistant in 1996-1998; Director for Development/Belarus-Ukraine-Moldova in 2005-2007), the Open Society Institute – Budapest (2000-2001), Soros Foundation in Ukraine (Program Manager in 1998-2000; Deputy Director in 2001-2004), Victor Pinchuk Foundation (Director for Development, 2007-2008), UNDP – Ukraine (Senior Program Manager, 2008-2010).
In 2010, Mikhail Minakov together with a group of dedicated experts (Aliona Sibiriakova, Alexandr Blank, Volodymyr Bogatyr and Natalia Sheiko) established the Foundation for Good Politics. The Foundation’s ambition is to link global academia, European experts, and post-Soviet politicians and provide political parties and governments with advice and consulting. Since that time and until 2015 his colleagues and Mikhail have been working with politicians and officials from the USA, Germany, Ukraine and Russia.
Mikhail Minakov travels around the world with public lectures promoting ideas and practices of tolerance, values-based leadership, and communicative rationality. In 2017-2019, Mikhail serverd as a UNDP Envoy of Tolerance in Ukraine.
Degrees and Certificates
In 2023, Minakov has proceeded with the habilitation in Italy obtaining
— Habilitation in history of international relations (professore di II fascia per il settore concorsuale 14/B2 Storia delle relazioni internazionali; Ministero Italiano dell’Università e della Ricerca)
— Habilitation in political philosophy (professore di II fascia per il settore concorsuale 14/A1 Filosofia politica; Ministero Italiano dell’Università e della Ricerca)
Mikhail Minakov holds a Doctor of Sciences in Philosophy degree from Kyiv Institute of Philosophy, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2007). This dissertation was supervised by prof. Dr. Anatolii Loy; the dissertation was reviewed by prof. Dr. Yevhen Prychepii and prof. Dr. Maria Kultayeva.
Mikhail also holds degrees of Candidate of Sciences in Philosophy (2001, Kyiv Institute of Philosophy), MA in Philosophy (1998, UKMA), BA in Philosophy (1996, UKMA), and Feldsher (1990, Zaporizhzhya Medical School). In 2023, Dr. Minakov successfully completed habilitation (abilitazione nazionale italiana) in political philosophy (A1, seconda fascia) and history of international relations (B2, seconda fascia).
Dr. Minakov is also certified in
International Management Centre – Budapest (1998 – 2000): Strategic Management; Program Implementation Techniques; Methods of Monitoring and Evaluation; Successful Fundraising; Financial Management for Non-for-profit Organizations
UNDP (2008): Business Ethics; Results-Based Programme Management, etc.
Mikhail Minakov has also had special training at the Aspen Institute (Aspen, CO) as a moderator for Aspen Executive Seminar (Values-Based Leadership, 2007, 2008).
Associations
2025 – to date: Member, Academic Board, Center for Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus Regional Research, Malmö University
2024 – to date: Member, International Council for Central and East European Studies
2024 – to date Member, Advisory Board, Jean Monnet Policy Network “ValEUs”
2022 – to present Member of Società italiana Storia internazionale
2022 – to present Member of Società Italiana di Filosofia Politica
2020 – to present Member, Council for Inclusive Capitalism with Vatican
2019 – to present Editor in chief, Koine.Community
2021 – 2022 Member of founding committe and professor, University of New Europe
2018 – to present Member, L’Associazione Italiana di Studi Ucrainistici
2017 – to present Senior Fellow/Editor-in-Chief, Kennan Focus: Ukraine, Kennan Institute (DC, USA)
2017 – to present Member and Vice President, Academic Board, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS, Berlin)
2015 – 2020 Member, Supervisory Board, Hromadske TV
2015 – to present Member, Editorial Board of a Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society
2014 – 2021 Member, Free Historical Association (Vol’noie Istoricheskoie Obshchestvo), Russia
2017 – 2020 UNDP Ukraine Tolerance and Good Will Envoy (Kiev, Ukraine)
2013 – 2018 Head of Immanuel Kant Society in Ukraine (Secretary in 1998-2013)
2013 – 2018 Member of the Board, Center.UA (http://uacentre.org.ua/)
1998 – 2014 Member of the Editorial Board for bi-annual ‘Ukrainiskyi Himanitarny Ohliad’
2010 – 2017 Member, Krytyka Editorial Board
2007 – 2010 Member of the Board, East European Leadership Network
2005 – 2008 Chair of the Programme Board for George Soros Translation Project
Languages
Russian and Ukrainian native
English and Italian fluent
German, French, Chinese, Polish minimal working knowledge