Sociologist and publicist. Studied African languages and Swahili at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Professor of Sociology at New York University Abu Dhabi. Author of articles about the Caucasus, including Why Tatarstan is Not Chechnya (1994) and Why Adjara is Not Abkhazia (1995). In 2005, published the monograph Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the Caucasus (2005). Recipient of the Norbert Elias Award, Andrew Carnegie Award, American Sociological Association Award and the Times Literary Supplement Award.