Sergey Batsanov served as USSR, then Russian Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva after working on arms control, non-proliferation, outer space and nuclear energy issues in the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 14 years. He was later a senior member of the secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague and is now with a Geneva-based NGO dealing with key issues of global stability and conflict. He is well versed in the politics and governmental traditions of states in Central Asia and the Caucasus.