Dr. Robert V. Barylski is a retired associate professor in the Department of Government and International Relations at USF Sarasota and former Dean of the University prior to his retirement.

An expert on civil-military relations in Russia, Dr. Barylski published The Soldier in Russian Politics 1988-1996: Duty, Dictatorship and Democracy under Gorbachev and Yeltsin. He travels to Russia frequently and speaks and writes on political and economic reconstruction in the former Soviet Union. He is particularly interested in the development of oil resources in Russia and the newly independent nations on its borders.

In recent years Dr. Barylski has become one of the leading experts on Russian policy towards states and peoples of Islamic heritage. He has also spoken to SILL audiences on the rise of tycoons in the Russian economy and the relationships between Russia, China, and Iran. He has made occasional expert contributions to the Voice of America for broadcast to the greater Caspian region and has participated in U.S. policy symposia at the U.S. Central Command.

Dr. Barylski holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Brown University and graduate degrees in Russian area studies and political science from Harvard.