Alexandra Kuimova is a research assistant with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, where she focuses on developments in the Middle East and North Africa and former Soviet states. Before joining SIPRI, she interned with the Department of New Challenges and Threats at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kuimova has completed internships at Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi in Morocco and Cairo State University in Egypt. She holds an MA in African and Oriental studies from Kazan Federal University in Russia and speaks Russian, English, and Arabic.