SPEAKERS
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BALIAN Hrair Director of the Conflict Resolution Program of the Carter Center. H. Balian oversees the program's efforts to monitor conflicts around the world and coordinates the Center's cross-program efforts in the Middle East. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Emory University Law School, teaching an advanced international negotiations seminar. Since 1991, H. Balian has worked in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the independent states emerging from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and Africa, serving in intergovernmental organizations (the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and non-governmental organizations (International Crisis Group and others). He has worked on elections, human rights, and conflict resolution. Dr. Balian received his Juris Doctor degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. In May 2009, the New England College awarded Mr. Balian the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for his ‘lifetime commitment to the dignity, respect, and self-determination of all peoples’ and for his ‘uncompromising effort to resolve international conflicts’. |
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BARTENEV Vladimir Igorevich Ph.D. (History), Director of the Center for Security and Development Studies and a Deputy Dean for Research at the School of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Graduated from the School of History, MSU and Collège Universitaire Français de Moscou. Fox International Fellow at Yale University (2006-2007). Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Moscow University Journal of World Politics. Empowering Sustainability Fellow at University of California (Irvine). Part-time consultant at the World Bank (2011-2013), editor and the main author of International Development Cooperation: course of lectures – the key intellectual product of the World Bank ‘Russia as a Donor Initiative’ Program. Author of The Libyan Problem in the International Relations (1969-2008) and a series of publications on ‘rogue states’, terrorism and security-development nexus. He conducts researches on political economy of international relations, global governance, international development assistance, security-development nexus, ‘rogue’ and ‘failed states’, political risks analysis. |
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CHOMIAK Laryssa Director of the Centre d'Etudes Maghrébines à Tunis (CEMAT) since 2011. She specializes in the comparative politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Her work has appeared as book chapters and journal articles in Middle East Law and Governance, The Journal of North African Studies, Portal 9 and Middle East Report. Dr. Chomiak has received research fellowships from the Fulbright Commission (Morocco), the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX/Ukraine) and The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS/Tunisia). Before her doctoral studies she worked at USAID’s Bureau of Global Health in Washington, DC. Her essays and opinion analyses have appeared in ‘Jadaliyya’, ‘The Washington Post’, ‘Christian Science Monitor’ and ‘Courrier International’. |
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DEGTEREV Denis Andreevich Ph.D. (Economics), Head of the Chair of Theory and History of International Relations at School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN). Associate Professor of the Chair of World Economy at the MGIMO University. Since 2002, worked at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2002-2005 was in a foreign service in Tropical Africa, has a diplomatic rank. In 2005-2009 worked as assistant to the rector and head of master's programs at the MGIMO University. D. Degterev is the author of more than 60 research papers and several monographs on international relations, international law and world economy. His academic interests include quantitative methods of analysis (game theory approach, econometrics, computer modeling) of international processes (international relations, international law, international economy), problems of promoting international development. |
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ELJARH Mohamed Nonresident Fellow of the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. Associate Expert at the Sahel-Maghreb Research Platform hosted by the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen. He worked as political consultant to the Libyan Mission to the EU in Brussels in 2015, and works as a Libya consultant for several international security and political risk consultancies. From 2014 to 2016, Eljarh served as the Libya consultant for the UK Special Envoy to Libya, Jonathan Powell, advising him on political and security issues. M. Eljarh is the author of articles on the civil war in Libya and Western Intervention, Middle East political and economic reconstruction. |
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HILTERMANN Joost Program Director on Middle East & North Africa at the International Crisis Group, an independent NGO dedicated to preventing deadly conflict, for which he has worked since 2002. Before that, he was an Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch (1994-2002), and database and research coordinator at the Palestinian human rights organisation ‘Al-Haq’ in Ramallah (1985-1990). He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is author of A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja (Cambridge, 2007), and Behind the Intifada: Labor and Women's Movements in the Occupied Territories (Princeton, 1991). He has been a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, The London Review of Books, The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Middle East Report, and other publications. |
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GLAZUNOVA Elena Nikolaevna Ph.D. (History), Deputy Director of the Center for Security and Development Studies, Leading Research Fellow of the School of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Graduate of the School of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Lectures in the University of California (Irvine) on the contemporary U.S.-Russian relations. Elena Glazunova is the author of The Origins of International Development Assistance: The Point Four Program of President Harry S. Truman. She is also co-author and co-editor-in-chief of the set of lectures entitled International Development Cooperation published by the World Bank. She is the author of numerous articles on international development issues (history and theory), on the internationalization of internal conflicts in developing countries, and on regime change during the Cold War with a special focus on the U.S. interventions in Iran, Guatemala, and Chile. Her research interests include international relations theory, international development assistance, security-development nexus, the U.S.-Russian relations. |
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KOKOSHIN Andrei Afanasievich Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dean of the School of World Politics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Soviet and Russian statesman, scholar and political scientist. In the past A.A. Kokoshin worked as a State Military Inspector-Secretary of the Defence Council, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (1997-1998), First Deputy Minister of Defence - State Secretary (1996-1997), First Deputy Minister of Defence (1992-1996), the State Duma Deputy of the 3rd, 4th and 5th convocations. Actual State Councilor of the Russian Federation, 1st class (1997). Specialist in military-political, socio-economic and technological aspects of international and national security. Author of more than 200 scientific articles and monographs on international security, strategic stability, nuclear and non-nuclear deterrence, forecasting for national security, military art, theory and history of international relations. |
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KOSACH Grigoriy Grigoryevich Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor of the Chair of Modern Orient at the Division for History, Political Science and Law at the Institute for History and Archives of the Russian State University for the Humanities. Expert of the Russian International Affairs Council (Moscow). Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Bulletin of Eurasia / Acta Eurasica. Professor G. Kosach is the author of more than 100 scientific papers including 13 monographs. His last book Russian-Saudi Relations: The Political Aspect. 1990-2015 was published in 2016 by the Institute of the Middle East (Moscow). In his research, he focuses on issues related to various aspects of the political process in the countries of Arab East (the beginning of the communist movement in the region, the development of the Palestinian national movement, Saudi foreign policy, Soviet/Russian politics in the Middle East). He also specializes on different aspects of Russian regionalism, national and religious movements in the Russian regions and in the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union. |
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KUZNETSOV Vasilii Aleksandrovich Ph.D. in History, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor at the Chair of Regional Issues of World Politics and Director of the Centre for Political Systems and Cultures at the School of World Politics at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Senior political adviser to the Russian Contact Group of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the settlement of the Libyan crisis. He is the author of numerous works on history and contemporary international relations in the Middle East, Russian policy in the Middle East, contemporary history of Tunisia, role of religion and ideology in political dynamics in the Arab countries, causes and consequences of the ‘Arab revival’. Research interests of V.A. Kuznetsov include medieval Arab and Muslim historiography and historical science, issues of political power in classic Arab and Muslim social thought and historiography, medieval history of the Maghreb countries, modern political processes in the Arab world, political transformation of the Arab countries during the ‘Arab Spring’, political evolution of Tunisia, issues of regional development of the Maghreb. |
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LUKYANOV Fedor Alexandrovich Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy (Russian Federation). Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine. Scientific Director of International discussion club ‘Valdai’. Member of Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civic Society Institutions. Member of the Presidium of the Russian International Affairs Council. Professor-researcher of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. PIR Center Advisory Board member since 2010. Graduated from the School of Philology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Worked as a Senior editor of the editorial board of broadcasting to the Northern Europe of the International Moscow Radio (Voice of Russia), and an employee of Sawyer Miller Group (USA). He was a correspondent for the international department of Segodnya, an editor of the international department of the Vremya MN and a deputy editor-in-chief of the Vremya Novostey newspapers. F. Lukyanov is the author of numerous publications on the issues of contemporary international relations and Russia's foreign policy. Sphere of research interests: actual problems of modern international relations, Russian foreign policy, European policy. |
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MARKOV Andrey Romanovich Ph.D. (Economics), Dean’s Advisor, Member of the Board for the Development of the School of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Associate Professor at the Chair of World Economy. He is a senior professional with more than a decade of World Bank experience in design and implementation of multi-sector technical assistance programs, public policy analysis, and serving as TTL for investment projects in education and social protection. Since 2006 he has been leading the World Bank policy dialogue with the Government of Russia as an emerging donor and coordinating WB assistance program in the South of Russia. His development work experience includes ECA (Russia) and Africa Region (Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia). Member of the Methodological Council for Effectiveness of the Budget Expenditures of the Government of the Russian Federation, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Independent Institute for Social Policy, Member of the OECD International Committee for Financial Literacy. |
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MARYASIS Dmitry Akexandrovich Ph.D. (Economy), Senior Research Fellow of the Israel and Jewish Communities Studies Department at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director-General of the Russia-Israel Business Council. Author of more than 60 research papers and three books. His last one was entitled Innovation Economy Building Experience: The Case of Israel (2015), published by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He focuses of the issues of economic development of Israel, and formation and development of innovation economics in the Middle East. Since 2016 D.A. Maryasis has been a member of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Economies in Transition of the Skolkovo Business School. Since 2017, he has been cooperating with the English-language analytical online publication Al-Monitor. |
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PARKS Robert Patrick Ph.D. in Government, University of Texas at Austin (2011). Since 2006 is a Founding Director of the Centre d'Études Maghrébines en Algérie at the American Institute for Maghrib Studies’ Overseas Research Center in Algeria. Robert Parks is the author and editor of numerous publications on the Arab Spring, Algeria’s political system, Algerian youth movement, terrorism and national reconciliation in Algeria. His research interests include political economy, national-state construction in the Maghreb, property rights, space and territory, political geography. |
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PLOTNIKOV Nikolai Dmitrievich Doctor of Sciences (Political Science), Head of the Center of scientific and analytical information of the Institute of Oriental Studies (since 2014). In 1996, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Major-General (Retired). He writes on the Western powers’ policy in the Middle East and Libya. His research interests include modern political processes in the Middle East and Central Asia, counterterrorism. |
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SKAPERDAS Stergios Director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is also Professor of Economics and holds the Clifford S. Heinz Chair (on the economics of peace). He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University. His research examines circumstances in which individuals and groups can make a living not just by producing and trading but also by taking – appropriating – the production of others. With that basic trade-off between production and appropriation at its core, Skaperdas has developed a theoretical framework that allows the study of a variety of economic and political problems, including those of organized crime, the emergence of states and governance, civil wars and other forms of domestic conflict, as well as the effects of globalization in the presence of insecurity. His research has been published in a variety of economics and political science journals, including the American Economic Review, the American Political Science Review, Economic Journal, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Economic Theory, and the Journal of International Economics. He is also the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict. |
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SALEM Walid Director of the Center for Democracy and Community Development in East Jerusalem and a lecturer on democracy, human rights and conflict resolution at al-Quds University. Ph.D. candidate in International Relations at the Near East University in Northern Cyprus. He is the author of numerous books and research papers on the conflict and has written extensively on democracy, civil society, peacebuilding, citizenship, refugee issues, and the status of Jerusalem. Walid Salem was a Member in the Palestinian National Council of PLO, and has been the Coordinator of Middle East Citizen Assembly, a regional network of experts and activists on citizenship issues that includes participants from 19 countries from the region. He has lectured at several international conferences and seminars about democracy, Jerusalem, refugees, and development in Palestine. |
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SAZHIN Vladimir Igorevich Ph.D. (History), Professor, Senior Researcher of the Center for the Study of Near and Middle East Countries at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Luxembourg Forum on preventing nuclear catastrophe, a non-governmental organization uniting leading world-renowned experts on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, materials and delivery vehicles. Sazhin - a well-known orientalist and a specialist on Iran. He is the author of research works on military-political and foreign policy, economic issues, religious and ethnic problems of modern Iran, Afghanistan, regional issues of the Near and Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus. Expert of the ‘Valdai’ discussion club and the Russian International Affairs Council. He is an often guest for Russian and foreign media (Russia Today, The Iran Project, The Voice of Russia). |
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SUCHKOV Maxim Alexandrovich Ph.D. (History), editor of Al-Monitor’s Russia-Mideast coverage. He is a non-resident expert at the Russian International Affairs Council and at the Valdai International Discussion Club. In 2010-2011 was a Fulbright Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and Visiting Fellow at New York University (Washington, USA). Author of more than 30 papers and two monographs (published in Germany). His research interests include international relations and international security, foreign policy of the United States and Russia, the post-Soviet space, the Middle East. |
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TRUEVTSEV Konstantin Mikhailovich Ph.D. (Philosophy), Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor at the Chair of Regional Issues of World Politics at the School of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. For several years worked at the Novosti Press Agency, Institute of Social Sciences of Communist Party in Moscow, Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, National Research University ‘Higher School of Economics’. Director of the Centre on Human Rights (1993-1999). His research interests include political system and electoral processes in Russia, political systems and processes in the Middle Eastern countries, international terrorism. K.M. Truevtsev is the author of two books and more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. |
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WHITELEY John Professor of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine, and a founder of the ‘Empowering Sustainability on Earth’ and ‘Toward a Sustainable 21st Century’ initiatives. A founder of the interview series entitled ‘Quest for Peace in the 21st Century’. They contained within it significant insights of leading Soviet and Russian thinkers. It has been broadcasted on 400 cable and PBS stations in 47 states. The whole collection will be available on YouTube in 2018. There are two foci to his long-term research. The first focus is on character and community and moral development during the college years. The second focus is on the imperative of the government of the United States to provide for national security and the continuing clash with concerns of civil society and the legislative branch of government over preservation of environmental quality and safety and the health of the broader community. Professor J. Whiteley specializes on moral development, late adolescence and early adult development, social ecology of peace. |
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WIMMEN Heiko Director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at International Crisis Group, the independent organization working to prevent wars and shape policies that help promote peace and prevent deadly conflict. Prior to joining Crisis Group, he was an associate researcher at the German Institute of International and Security Affairs in Berlin and the deputy director in the Middle East office at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Beirut. His most recent publication is ‘The Sectarianization of the Syrian Civil War’, in Frederic Wehrey (ed.), Beyond Sunni and Shia. The Roots of Sectarianism in a Changing Middle East, New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. His research focuses on political activism in divided societies, identity politics, and institution building in post-conflict environments. |
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YAKOVLEV Aleksandr Ivanovich Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor at the Chair of Regional Issues of World Politics at the School of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Leading Research Fellow the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His research interests include social and economic development of the oil-producing countries of the Arabian Peninsula, challenges and prospects for modernization of traditional societies of the East. His major publications include books on relations between Saudi Arabia and the West, modernization of the Eastern and Western countries, social and economic history of the Arab countries. |
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ZVYAGELSKAYA Irina Donovna Doctor of Sciences (History), Senior Research Associate at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor at the Chair of Orientalism at the MGIMO University and at the Institute of Asian and African Countries of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. I.D. Zvyagelskaya is an author of more than 100 printed works on non-traditional security threats in Central Asia, Russian policy in Central Asia, the U.S. policy in the Middle East and Central Asia. Her research interests include regional and ethnological conflicts, security problems, international relations in the Middle East and Central Asia. |
