Roy Allison is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He was Head of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) (1993-2005); Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford (2001-5); and Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham (1992-9). His editorial board memberships include International Affairs. He has previously published, co-authored or edited eight books on Soviet, Russian and CIS foreign and security policies.

Margot Light is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics. Her recent publications include 'Russia and the West: Is There a Values Gap?' (with Stephen White and Ian McAllister), International Politics, September 2005; 'Foreign Policy' in Developments in Russian Politics 6, edited by Stephen White, Richard Sakwa and Zvi Gitelman (2005); and 'Belarus between East and West' (with Roy Allison and Stephen White), Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, December 2005.

Stephen White is Professor of International Politics at the University of Glasgow, and is a Senior Research Associate of its School of Central and East European Studies and of the Institute of Applied Politics in Moscow. He was President of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (1994-7), and is also chief editor of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics. His recent publications include Developments in Russian Politics 6 (with others, 2005), and Politics in Europe (with others, 2006).