As always, it was a pleasure to invite and to meet colleagues with a special research interest in the region at the Fourth Annual Conference of the research platform Russia and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR), which was held at Malmö University on November 21-22. The conference focused on the role of mass media and social media in the Caucasus and Russia (Programme) – and numerous recent examples from the field were discussed!

Many thanks to our keynote speakers, Prof. Svetlana Bodrunova from Saint Petersburg University and Prof. Maia Mikashavidze, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). It was a privilege that Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society, Rebecka Lettevall, opened the conference.