Misha Zelinsky is a leading expert on the rise of global authoritarianism.

A Fulbright Scholar, economist, lawyer, and author, Misha spent 2022 and 2023 covering Russia’s invasion from inside Ukraine as a war correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. For this work, Misha is personally sanctioned by the Putin regime.

He is currently the Executive General Manager of Corporate Affairs at the National Rugby League (NRL), where he has responsibility for the game's strategy, including the NRL's expansion into Papua New Guinea as part of Australia's soft power diplomacy.

Thanks to his time leading the Australian Workers’ Union— Australia’s oldest blue-collar trade union — Misha has been a senior political figure with a reputation for expertise in supply chain sovereignty, national security, industrial policy, countering foreign interference, international trade and energy security.

Misha is a regular columnist for The Australian Financial Review, writing on the future of democracy, Australian domestic policy, national security and geopolitics. As a contributor to MSNBC, BBC, and ABC, Misha’s work features in Australian and international print publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, Foreign Policy and The Times.

Misha’s recent book The Sun Will Rise, details the events of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Misha is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.