Chairman of the RAS Scientific Council for the problems of economic, socio-political and cultural development of African countries.

In 1962 he graduated from the Department of Oriental Studies of MGIMO and was assigned to the Pravda newspaper as an assistant political commentator.

In 1969–1971 he worked for Pravda in Moscow, occasionally traveling abroad to report on events in "hot spots".

The scope of scientific interests of A.M. Vasiliev includes fundamental issues of social and political history of Arab countries in new and modern times, international relations in the Middle East, including relations with Russia, the role of religion in the political struggle, social changes in the countries of the Middle East, ethno-psychological factors in public life in the region, as well as the problem of Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Most significantly, Vasiliev was the first in Russia (then Soviet Union) to study the phenomenon of Wahhabism from the works of its founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and his predecessors.

The book uses the broadest range of currently available sources in Arabic, Turkish, English, French, Italian, German, and Russian languages.

Vasiliev continued the study of Saudi Arabia and published a number of bibliographic works related to the kingdom.

Vasiliev developed a theory of Muslim reformation, which underlines the role of Wahhabism at the time of the crisis of the feudal system of the Ottoman Empire.

A defining feature of this research is that the economic analysis is accompanied with an overview of the evolution of the socio-political system in these countries.

In this connection, Vasiliev in collaboration with Vladimir Kukushkin and Alexander Tkachenko carried out a comparative analysis of the privatization process in Russia, Central Asian and Arab countries.

In his analysis he assessed African societies as "multi-dimensional, patron-client, with patriarchal, traditional and modern elements".

The books Egypt and the Egyptians, The Bridge Across the Bosporus about Turkey and the Turks, The Persian Gulf in the Epicenter of the Storm, The Difficult Pass, The Roots of Tamarisk, A Journey to Arabia Felix, some of which are still in print in different languages due to their popularity, combine scientific analysis with journalistic presentation, making them more directed at a mass reader rather than the science community.

Over the years, Vasiliev has published 40 books (counting editions and translations) and over 900 articles in Russian and foreign periodicals.

Vasiliev was the Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Relations with African Leaders in the framework of G8 summits.

Vasiliev often gives lectures at universities in Russia, the United States, the UK, Italy, France, Switzerland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman.