Nikolay Kozhanov is a Research Associate Professor at the Gulf Studies Center (GSC) of Qatar University. He is also a Non-Resident Scholar at the Economics and Energy Program of the Middle East Institute (Washington DC, the US) and a Consulting Fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Programme of Chatham House (London, the UK). Nikolay’s research interests are focused on the geopolitics of the Gulf hydrocarbons, political economy of the GCC states, 4th energy transition, Russian foreign policy in the Middle East as well as Iran’s economy and international relations. Dr. Kozhanov has his PhD in economics from St.Petersburg State University (Russia) and holds an MA degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Exeter (the UK). He has been a visiting fellow at a number of leading international think-tanks including Chatham House and Carnegie Moscow Center. Nikolay was an academic editor of several collective volumes such as GCC Hydrocarbon Economies and COVID: Old Trends New Realities (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023) and Russia and the Middle East. (London: Oxford University Press and Hurst, 2022). Nikolay also published two sole authored monographs Russia and the Syrian Conflict: Moscow’s Domestic, Regional and Strategic Interests (Gerlach Press 2016) and Iran’s Strategic Thinking: The Evolution of Iran’s Foreign Policy 1979-2017 (London, Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2018).