John is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Exeter. His research addresses conflict, security, and development in authoritarian political environments, especially in post-Soviet Central Asia. He is the author of Dictators Without Borders (Yale 2017 https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300208443/dictators-without-borders ) and principal investigator of an Anti-Corruption Evidence project https://ace.globalintegrity.org/projects/benownerchecks/ (2019-2021) on the transnational ties to democracies of elites from authoritarian states. In 2021/22 he is a senior fellow of the British Academy studying relations between Eurasian kleptocratic elites and British professional service providers.
Heathershaw is a member of the Academic Freedom and Internationalisation Working Group (AFIWG https://hrc.sas.ac.uk/networks/academic-freedom-and-internationalisation-working-group/model-code-conduct ) of the UK which campaigns for transparency and accountability in British universities international relations. He has previously taught at the American University in Central Asia, the London School of Economics, Kings College London, and the University of Notre Dame. Prior to entering academia, Heathershaw was a research analyst at the Ministry of Defence and an aid worker in West Africa and Central Asia.
ICRA 