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Sergey Kostelyanets
Alexander Karavayev
Oleg Kashirskih
Andrey Klepach
Alexander Konkov
Andrey Kazantsev
Viktor Kremenyuk
Ye Eun Kim
Alexej Kelin
Vasily Kuznetsov
Russian Federation
Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences. 


Previous position: Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences; Director , Centre for Transformation of Political Systems and Political Cultures, Political Science Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Senior Lecturer, World Politics Department, MSU.

Research interests: Maghreb Arab countries political development, historical memory, historical consciousness and national identity formation in Maghreb countries; medieval Arab-Muslim historiography, its forms, historic world map of medieval historiographer; historiography social and political functions.

Selected publications: Writing the World: Structuring the Past in Early Arab-Muslim Historiography (2007), Unity and Plurality of the World in Arab-Muslim Historical-Political Discourses of X-XV Centuries (edited by L.Repina, 2010), Life Before Nascence: History in Medieval Arab-Muslim Structure of Knowledge (2013), Valdai Discussion Club analytical report Transformation in the Arab world and Russia's interests (co-author, 2012), Russian International Affairs Council analytical report Russia and Greater Middle East (co-author, 2013). Published: A Little Blood in Troubled Waters: On the National Crisis in Tunisia, and How Fear Stops Violence That Could Have Been Avoided .
Materials
Reports
A New Security Architecture for the Middle East?
The Middle East broke all records for surprise events in 2019. The unexpected changes of government in Algeria and Sudan, mass protests in Lebanon and Iraq, the sensational election outcome in Tunisia, the never-ending election process in Israel, a new escalation of US–Iran tensions, zigzagging developments in Syria, Libya, and Yemen, and many more – the list may be continued.
17.02.2020
Expert Opinions
Events in Algeria: President’s Resignation and Transition
Algeria’s octogenarian President Bouteflika has resigned after just shy of two decades in office. On the one hand, he was compelled to leave by unruly street demonstrations, and on the other, he was being pressured by his nation’s army, says Valdai Club expert Vasily Kuznetsov, head of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
03.04.2019
Expert Opinions
Why Bouteflika’s “Departure” Threatens Algeria with Even Greater Shocks
On 18 April 2019, presidential elections were to be held in Algeria, which would have led to the inevitable victory of President Bouteflika, who has ruled the country since 1999 and was ready to run for a fifth term in office. His candidacy caused a wave of protests, and the president seemed to backtrack.
13.03.2019
Reports
Report: Russia in the Middle East: The Harmony of Polyphony
The Middle East is increasingly important in the fabric of international relations. Developments there have greater consequences for the rest of the world than in the Cold War era. This is not primarily due to the destabilizing impulses that keep the region on centre stage in world politics, for the Middle East has long known turbulence and conflict and the security  challenges it posed in the past were hardly less significant than today, especially given the emergence of nuclear weapons in the region.
21.05.2018
Reports
Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields. Material for Discussion at the Middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club
The year 2017 was a turning point in the transformation that began in the Middle East six years ago. Although none of the bloody conflicts is over and some are escalating instead of abating, fears that all states in the region were doomed have proved alarmist. Positive change is gaining momentum, albeit slowly: local players are looking for political solutions to conflicts, and the demand for economic and political reform is growing in the region’s weakened and vulnerable countries.
18.02.2018
Reports
Report: The Middle East: Darkness Before the New Dawn? Regional Conflicts and the Future of the Global Community
Military conflicts, terrorism, lack of natural resources, unemployment, disparity – all these are but a fraction of problems, which persist in the Middle East.  Political rivalry at regional level as well as global actors’ interference lead to increasing tensions. Why does the region turn out to be so vulnerable to the conflict?
16.06.2017
Expert Opinions
Tension around Qatar: What Next?
The conflict between Qatar and other states of the Arab world is unlikely to be resolved shortly, Valdai Club experts say. Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia took the course of confrontation, Egypt has more complaints towards Qatar's foreign policy, which Cairo considers as a threat because Doha supports the oppositional Muslim Brotherhood movement.
07.06.2017
Reports
Report: The Middle East in a Time of Troubles: Traumas of the Past and Challenges of the Future
The Middle East today epitomizes major global trends: international processes becoming more ungovernable, the resurgence of power as a factor in international relations, the greater role played by contingency, the world’s periphery and semi-periphery gaining in strength amid a crisis in the concept of the nation state and national identity.
22.08.2016
Expert Opinions
Obama's Riyadh Visit Highlights His Mixed Legacy in the Middle East
Despite the cold welcome for President Obama in Riyadh, it is too early to talk about a crisis in the US-Saudi relations, believes Vasily Kuznetsov, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Moscow-based Institute of Oriental Studies.
21.04.2016
Valdai Papers
№32
The Islamic State: An Alternative Statehood?
Today in IS we observe the creation of government institutes with a full vacuum of civil ones. Such a situation can continue only during the war.


02.11.2015
Video
Ninth Middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club. Session 6. Scenarios of the Future (in English)
18.02.2020
A New Stage of the Middle East Crisis: Are Foreign Fighters Back? Expert Discussion
22.03.2019
Vasily Kuznetsov on Israel and Saudi Arabia's Fears of Iran
18.04.2017
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