Sergey Markedonov is a Leading Researcher at the Euro-Atlantic Security Center of the MGIMO Institute for International Studies. He is an expert on the Caucasus, as well as the Black Sea region, regional security, nationalism, interethnic/ethno-political conflicts and de-facto states in the post-Soviet area. His publications include several books and reports, about 150 academic articles, and more than 1000 media pieces.

From 2001 to 2010, he worked as head of the Interethnic Relations Group and deputy director at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis in Moscow. From May 2010 till October 2013 he was a visiting fellow in the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program based in Washington, DC, USA. In 2013-1018 he was an Associate Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

In April-May 2015 he was a Visiting Fellow in the Russia and Central Asia Program at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. In January-February 2016 he was a Visiting Lecturer at the Center of Central Eurasian Studies at the University of Mumbai, India and in August-September – at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Berlin.