Nikolai Petrov is a visiting researcher at German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin and a consulting fellow at Chatham House, London focused on Russian domestic politics and its impact on foreign policy, on political regime in Russia, elites and decision making.  In 2019-2022 he was a senior research fellow at Russian and Eurasian programme, Chatham House, London. In 2013-2021 he was a professor and head at Laboratory for Regional Development Assessment Methods at Higher School of Economics, Moscow. For many years he was scholar in residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center, where he directed the Society and Regions project. He also heads the Center for Political-Geographic Research. Petrov is a member of the Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia (PONARS Eurasia), and a member of scientific boards of the Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies, ‘Russian Politics’ and ‘Russian Politics & Law’. During 1990–1995, he served as an advisor to the Russian parliament, government, and presidential administration.