Dr. Lukin is the Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vice President of Russia’s Diplomatic Academy, and the head of the Diplomatic Academy’s Institute for Contemporary International Studies. He is the author of numerous article and policy papers on Russian and Chinese politics, the international situation in East Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Russian-Chinese relations. Alexander Lukin received his first degree from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, a doctorate in politics from Oxford University and a doctorate in history from the Russian Diplomatic Academy. Dr. Lukin is the author of “The Political Culture of the Russian Democrats” (2000) and “The Bear Watches the Dragon: Russia’s Perceptions of China and the Evolution of Russian-Chinese Relations since the Eighteenth Century” (2003).