Valdai Club

Head of the Russia/CIS Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Professor for East European History at Bremen University.



Also a member of the board of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft fьr Osteuropakunde", the journal "Osteuropa" and the "Bertelsmann Transformation Index", editor of the "Russlandanalysen" and coeditor of the "Russian Analytical Digest."



Previous positions: Assistant professor for East European history at the Ruhr-University Bochum (1981-1986), Senior analyst at the , East European and International Studies (BIOst), Cologne (1986-2000).



Research interests: Role of йlites in the Russian transition process after 1991, Soviet/Russian defense and security policy.



Selected publications: "What Kind of Political Regime Does Russia Have?", "Politics and the Ruling Group in Putin's Russia" (2008),"The Caucasus Crisis: International Perceptions and Policy Implications for Germany and Europe"(2008).