Valdai Club

Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Doctor of Historical Sciences; Professor; Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Editor-in-chief, “Vostok (Oriens)” journal (since 1998); Member, Science Council, Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Security Council; President, Center for Strategic and Political Studies (since 1991); Goodwill Ambassador for the Alliance of Civilizations by the UN Secretary General (since 2007).

Previous positions: Head, Arab countries Department, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS (1984–1989); Deputy Director, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS (1989–1994); Visiting Professor, American University, Cairo (1991); Head, Center for Arab Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS (1994–2009); Visiting Analyst, Abu Dhabi TV Satellite Channel, UAE (2001–2002); Visiting Professor, University of California in Berkeley (2003); Member, High Level Group, UN Alliance of Civilizations project (2005–2006); Founder and Chairman, Center for Arab and Islamic Studies (2006–2009).

Research interests: Islam; international relations; international security; regional studies (Middle East, Central Asia, South Caucasus); South Arabian studies; conflict management and resolution; ethnology; evolution of Islamic movements; South Arabian ethnography; conflicts among the CIS member-states.

Author of over 500 publications in Russian, English, French, Arabic and other languages dealing with the history of Asia, the Arab world, Central Asia and Caucasus, international relations, political science, Islamic studies, philology, conflict management and resolution.