Mikhail Margelov

PhD in Political Science. PIR Center Advisory Board member (since 2002). Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Board of Trustees Member and Vice President. Member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (SVOP). Head of UNESCO Department on Asian and African Studies: Modern Methods of Studying and Teaching at the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University. He led a group of political observers at the Russian news agency Vesti. He was the Chairman of the European Democrat Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. On April 25, 2005, he resigned as Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from Russia. From 2008 to 2011, he was the Special Representative of the Russian President for Sudan. Also, he was the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for cooperation with African countries. From 2000 to 2014, he was the Representative in the Federation Council of the Russian Federal Assembly from the administration of the Pskov region.