Andrei Melville is Professor of Political Science and Vice-Rector of MGIMO University of the MFA of Russia, where he was founding dean of the School of Political Science from 1998–2005. He has been a visiting professor at Berkeley and Bergen universities, and is Vice-President of the Russian International Studies Association. He has recently edited and co-authored the volumes The Political Atlas of the World, and Political Science. Ivan Timofeev is a senior lecturer and research projects co-ordinator at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He is the author of Russian Political Identity in the Post Soviet Period, and co-author with Andrey Melville of The Political Atlas of the Modern World.