Nikolas K. Gvosdev (PhD, St. Antony's College, Oxford University) is professor of national security studies at the U.S. Naval War College, a senior editor at The National Interest, and a frequent commentator on U.S. foreign policy and international relations, Russian and Eurasian affairs, developments in the Middle East, and the role of religion in politics. The co-author of The Receding Shadow of the Prophet: The Rise and Fall of Political Islam, Gvosdev has published over 50 articles, columns, and essays on democratization and human rights; general foreign policy; energy policy; foreign policy of Russia and the Eurasian states; U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East; politics and culture… of the Eurasian states; and religion and politics. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, National Review, Religion State and Society, The National Interest, Orbis, The Washington Quarterly, Problems of Post-Communism, and World Policy Journal.