GBSB Global Business School Professor Sergey Sukhankin is a scholar and professor with international recognition focused on Russia and the Baltic Sea Region. Much of his academic career has delved into the topics of military relations, cybersecurity, and economic development. A Russian native, he was born in Kaliningrad, just across the northern most border with Poland. Earning two master’s degrees, one in Russia and the other in Warsaw, Poland, he has always been fascinated with the region and its historical and current economic and political dynamic. He is an Associate Analyst at the International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) - a top independent think-tank in Kiev, Ukraine. Professor Sukhankin is also a contributing author at the Jamestown Foundation and a visiting scholar at IBEI in Barcelona.
Professor Sukhankin has authored many academic publications worldwide and has been invited to numerous professional and political conferences regarding international business and Russia’s position within world affairs in Ukraine, Poland, Finland, London, the United States, and Spain. This year, 2017, Professor Sukhankin will earn his PhD in Philosophy, from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) Chare of Contemporary Political and Social History department. He is a recognized scholar and respected faculty member here at GBSB Global teaching a regional studies class, Doing Business in Russia and Globalization and Transition Economies. He also oversees the Master, Master of Science, and MBA students’ course on Research Methods that prepares them for their final capstone project or decertation.
Why teach the youth of today?
Professor Sergey Sukhankin learns as much from the students as they learn from him. The cultural diversity is intriguing, students coming from various countries from around the world come together at GBSB Global Business School. The interchange of ideas, beliefs, political backgrounds, and professional experiences add value to the classroom dynamic that is not only enriching for the student but for the faculty and staff. That is one of the key factors that make teaching at GBSB Global so pleasurable as Professor Sukhankin remarked in his interview. The student body is extremely talented. Diversity, maintained as a core value, distinguishes the business school from all the rest.
Why is a degree in international business applicable in today’s society?
Globalization versus regionalization. To be successful in international business, professionals must know about small micro-communities. While the world strums to the globalized drum, Professor Sukhankin points out that regionalization is working in Europe, more so than it has in the past.
What many need to understand today is that the world is comprised of a patchwork of communities, cultures, and nationalities. In order to be successful in international business, students need to foster an understanding that the world is not one homogenous body as globalization may suggest, but rather a puzzle they need to discover, find empathy and work to find solutions that are beneficial for all.
What learning lessons should students take away from GBSB Global?
1. Atmosphere
The learning environment fostered at GBSB Global Business School is really unique in Barcelona and Spain. With a vibrant international setting, learning happens not only in the traditional sense from the faculty of professors, but it is also takes place amongst peers, industry professionals and the vibrant environment that in most cases, is very much different than their own country of residence.
2. Be Creative & Use Your Talents to the Fullest
The student body at GBSB Global is comprised of a community of individuals with huge potential. As an institution, it is our task and responsibility to identify with students’ talents, abilities and passions, fostering learning, providing tools, training and theory to support their future growth into successful entrepreneurs, innovators, designers, leaders, and business professionals. No matter what direction students want to go with their career, GBSB Global Business School has the right faculty and staff in place to help students to achieve their goals and greater ambitions.
3. Tolerance
Don’t forget to be tolerant. On a microlevel, GBSB Global fosters an atmosphere of tolerance and cultural intelligence. In order to be successful in life, students must learn to work together alongside different races, religions, thoughts and beliefs systems. At GBSB Global Business School, with a student body hailing from 70+ countries globally, we are preparing tomorrow’s future leader to take on the global challenges, dismantling the walls past generations have built and fostering a sense of comradery and collaboration.
GBSB Global is a young business school, but very impressive in regards to the quality of its academia according to Professor Sukhankin. The range of subjects is vast and the curriculum provides students with the essential background and foundation they need to be successful as they start or continue their careers.
