"A Russian Orientalist and economist, political scientist and radio host. One of the leading Russian experts in the field of the politics of Israel and the countries of the Near and Middle East. President of the “Middle East Institute” (former Institute for the Study of Israel and the Middle East). PhD (Economy). A frequent guest in Russian political TV shows.

After graduating from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in 1980, he worked as an engineer at the State Institute of Design of Metallurgical Plants, as a worker at the SERP AND MOLOT Plant.

In the late 1980s, he got into business, becoming the president of the ARIEL group of companies.

Since 1993, the president of the Israel Studies Institute (now the Middle East Institute).

In 1999, at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he defended his thesis for the PhD degree (Economy) on the topic “The specifics of the economic development of Israeli society in the 1990s.”

He lectures geopolitics and economy of the Middle Eastern region at the Judaic Department of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at the Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.

He lectured also at the S. Dubnov Higher Humanitarian School and Moscow State Institute for International Affairs.

Member of the President Council of the Russian “Society of Friendship with Arabic Countries”.

Member of the editorial boards of the journals DIASPORA, BULLETIN OF THE JEWISH UNIVERSITY and EASTERN COLLECTION, academic board of the LIBRARY OF JUDAICA.

He was the third president of the Russian Jewish Congress.

Until 2012, a member of the Supervisory and Coordinating Board of the quarterly scientific journal STATE, RELIGION, CHURCH IN RUSSIA AND ABROAD.

Since 2019, member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. He is a member of the commission of the Public Council on military construction and scientific research in the field of security. He participates as an expert and speaker in specialized scientific conferences.

A guest in Vladimir Solovyov’s broadcasts on VESTI FM radio station, where he also co-hosted “From Three to Five” show with Sergey Korneyevskiy from Monday to Friday. A guest of Russian socio-political talk shows on the state TV channels, including the EVENING with Vladimir Solovyov (since 2015).

He hosts an own Telegram channel named ARMAGEDDONYCH, and has participated in Solovyov LIVE shows under the same nickname. But he was dismissed on October 20, 2023."