John Lechner holds an MS in Foreign Service (MSFS) from Georgetown University. He is an expert on Russia's growing influence in Africa, and speaks fluent Russian; advanced French, Turkish, and Georgian; and conversational Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), Chechen, German, and Sanngo (the lingua franca of the Central African Republic). He currently works as a freelance journalist and researcher, reporting on the Central African Republic (CAR) and Libya. He is an expert on the history, languages, and politics of Central Africa, Turkey, and the former Soviet Union. He resides in Washington, D.C.