V. M. Akhmedov

Vladimir Ahmedov is a Russian scientist, orientalist, Middle East political analyst, senior research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences specializing in modern history of Arab countries. He worked as an associate professor in the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (2004-2007). He has served in positions the Russian diplomatic missions in Arab countries and traveled extensively in the Middle East. He received his PhD from the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University. He is author of several books and many articles on Arab politics and international relations in the Middle East. His recent publications include: Army and Power in the Middle East( as editor and author of Armed Forces and Politics in Modern Syria) (2002), Officer corps of the Middle Eastern States (as co-editor and author of the Officers in the socio-political life of the Middle Eastern states, Officers as a special socio-political force in Syria)( 2004) Syria under Basher Assad. Regional experience of modernization under the conditions of external instability (2005), Social-political processes in the Arab countries of the Middle East (2008).. His new book Contemporary Syria: History, Politics, Economic., Moscow, 2010 is a research of academic origin into the shaping and development of political developments in Syria at the turn of XX -XXI cents under conditions of different economic structures and the transitional nature of power when the social fabric is being transformed as new political classes and elites appear on the social stage. The study investigates the mechanism of political power in Syria under Hafiz Assad, focusing its attention on developments within the military and civilian bureaucratic power elite and the party organization of the Bath. Above all, it investigates which factors and developments have ensured the transition of power to Basher Assad and encouraged the rise of new political elite in Syria. Main attention is paid to Basher -Assad's years in power, focusing on the perspectives of his presidency and his handling of the challenges facing the Syria in new political situation in the Middle East.