Nikolai Zlobin (; born 1 March 1958) is a Russian political scientist, journalist and historian who has spent more than 30 years living and working in the United States. He is the author of more than a dozen books and more than 300 essays and articles on topics of 20th century history, Russian and American politics, and international security. Following a lengthy career in academia, Zlobin emerged as a leading commentator on U.S.-Russian relations. He currently serves as founder and president of the Center on Global Interests in Washington, D.C. Early life Nikolai Zlobin was born in Moscow on March 1, 1958, to a family of academics. His father was Vasiliy Ivanovich Zlobin (1919–2008), a World War II veteran and a distinguished professor of history at Moscow State University, where he taught from 1951 until 2008. Vasiliy authored a number of works on political history, World War II, and theory of political parties in Russia and the Soviet Union that were widely published in Russia and abroad. Zlobin's mother was Clara Konstantinovna Zlobina [née Bondarenko] (1928–2003), a nuclear physicist at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (presently the Russian Academy of Sciences). Zlobin grew up in the famous “instructors’ building" that housed Moscow State University professors, located at the intersection of Leninsky and Lomonosovsky prospects. He attended School №14 (presently School №26), the same school where his daughter would later enter first grade. By Zlobin’s own account, he was a “hooligan” who did well on his schoolwork but consistently received poor grades for his behavior. Education Zlobin completed his studies at Moscow State University. His undergraduate academic adviser was the social historian Vladimir Drobizhev (1931-1989). He received a BA degree there in 1977, a MA in 1979, followed by postgraduate studies in 1979–82 and 1990-93. Academic work From 1983–1993, Zlobin was an assistant professor and later vice-head of the History Department at Moscow State University. He later served as an adviser to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Between 1995-1999 Zlobin was a visiting professor at Webster University, St. Louis. Between 1993 and 2000, Zlobin also held various short-term positions as a visiting professor and research fellow at a number of universities and research institutions in the United States,as well as the Kennan Institute of Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. At Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri Zlobin created the university’s first