Bálint MAGYAR (*1952) (CV) is a Senior Research Fellow at CEU Democracy Institute (since 2020), holding University Doctoral degree in Political Economy (1980) from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He has published and edited numerous books on post-communist mafia states since 2013. He was an Open Society Fellow for carrying out comparative studies in this field (2015-2016), Hans Speier Visiting Professor at New School (2017), Senior Fellow at CEU Institute for Advanced Study (2018-2019), and Research Fellow at Financial Research Institute (2010-2020). Formerly, he was an activist of the Hungarian anti-communist dissident movement, founder of the liberal party of Hungary (SZDSZ, 1988), Member of Hungarian Parliament (1990-2010), and Minister of Education (1996-1998, 2002-2006).

Bálint MADLOVICS (*1993) (CV) is a Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute (since 2020). He holds an MA in Political Science (2018) from Central European University, a BA in Applied Economics (2016) from Corvinus University of Budapest, and a BA in Sociology (2021) from Eötvös Loránd University. He was previously a Research Fellow at the Financial Research Institute in Budapest (2018–2019). Madlovics regularly lectures on post-communist regimes at Central European University, Eötvös Loránd University, Corvinus University of Budapest, and Bard College. He has co-edited several volumes with Bálint Magyar, including Ukraine’s Patronal Democracy and the Russian Invasion and Russia’s Imperial Endeavor and Its Geopolitical Consequences (CEU Press, 2023), and has (co-)authored numerous academic studies since 2015 on topics ranging from state predation to regime typologies. His work has been published in Public Choice, Acta Oeconomica, Foreign Affairs, and other international journals and handbooks.