Alexey Vasiliev is Honorary President of RAS Institute for African Studies (Russia). Between 2006 and 2011, he was Special Representative of President of Russia for contacts with leaders of African states. Over the five decades of academic work, he has published 40 books and more than 900 articles.Denis Degterev is Head of the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at RUDN University, Moscow (Russia), and he also teaches at MGIMO-University, MFA of Russia. He published over 200 papers in leading journals. He specializes in development cooperation, Africa, and has written extensively on Global South. In 2002-2005, he worked in West Africa. Timothy M. Shaw is Faculty Fellow at the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance, McCormack Graduate School, UMass Boston (USA). Some of his areas of expertise are international political economy, human development and human security, and African and Caribbean regions. He has written and edited more than ten books.