As an academic, he has taught at several universities both in Venezuela and abroad, directed institutions in the field of foreign policy, and written extensively on international affairs.

His brother Jose Toro Hardy is also a well-known Venezuelan author and public figure with several published books on economics.

He was also elected by the Council of Faculties of the University of Cambridge as Simón Bolívar Chair Professor for Latin American Studies for the period 2006–2007, but had to decline due to his diplomatic career (holders of this prestigious chair have included leading Latin American figures such as Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Carlos Fuentes or Celso Furtado).

British historian and author Robert Harvey stated: "One does not have to coincide with all of Toro Hardy's views in order to recognize that he is one of the most articulated and experienced voices not only from Latin America but from the developing world".

In recognition for his achievements in this field of knowledge, the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations made him an Honorary Research Fellow in 2019.

pioneered within Latin America the study of the United States’ institutional permeability, as a means by the countries of that region to influence Washington's decision-making process in their own benefit.

His book Hegemonía e Imperio[2] with a foreword by British historian Robert Harvey, won the same prize at the same category at the BookExpo America celebrated in Los Angeles in 2008.

The forewords of this work were written by Geoffrey Hawthorn, former Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies of the University of Cambridge, and L. Enrique García, President and CEO of CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In an extensive bibliographical selection on South America, LibraryThing choose The World Turned Upside Down as one of the nine basic background readings to understand that region [3].

The forewords of the latter were written by Francisco Rojas Aravena, Rector of the United Nations University for Peace and Tommy Koh, former president of both the UN Security Council and UNCLOS.

Paul, Zheng Yongnian, Moises Naim, James Dunkerley, Parag Khanna, Arturo Valenzuela, Richard Gott, Mark Leonard (director), Néstor Osorio Londoño, Michel Saloff Coste, or Jorge Alberto Lozoya, among other important figures.

On the other hand, his co-authored books have been written jointly with distinguished personalites, including Rafael Caldera, Ramón J. Velásquez, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Heraldo Muñoz, Juan Somavía, Arturo Sosa or Sir Timothy Garden.

He has published numerous papers in academic journals from the Americas, Europe, and Asia, while being a senior weekly columnist at Venezuela's oldest newspaper El Universal, between 1992 and 2024.

In 2004 he published an open letter in the Venezuelan press, expressing that he was a career civil servant and not a member or a follower of the ruling party.

As a result of that open letter his appointment as Venezuelan Permanent Representative to the Organization of the United Nations (New York), already approved by his country's Congress and made public by the press, was revoked.