Alexey Tokarev is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for International Studies of MGIMO-University.

He graduated from Tula State University with a degree in Political Science, and held a Russian Government Scholarship.

During his post-graduate studies at MGIMO, he worked as a leading expert of the Scientific Projects Division of the Department of Scientific Policy. After the successful defence of his thesis in 2012, he stayed on at the university as a research fellow. His research focuses on the post-Soviet space, Ukraine and Georgia (his thesis focused on them), unrecognized states and conflicts.

From 2013 to 2017 he wrote longreads for the “Kommersant.Vlast” magazine. He received the RIAC award "For the best analytical article by a young international journalist". Undertaking field research, he traveled across almost the whole post-Soviet space (except the Baltic States).

He has authored three monographs at MGIMO, beyond his academic work – about 200 publications in the federal media.

He was a guest lecturer at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow International University and Middlebury Institute of International Studies. One of his hobbies is mountaineering.