R. Kannan is an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, where he teaches international organizations and serves on the Dean Rusk International Law Centre Council. Over nearly thirty years, he worked as a political and peacekeeping official for the United Nations in countries like Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Kosovo—regions that broke away from Yugoslavia—as well as Cyprus, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and Somalia. Kannan has authored biographies of the Dravidian leaders Anna (C.N. Annadurai) and MGR (M.G. Ramachandran), published by Penguin Random House India. He actively writes and discusses Indian politics and international issues.