Second Joint Educational Module of MGIMO University and The Fletcher School
On March 18-22, 2019, the second joint educational module took place within the framework of a program partnership between The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and MGIMO University. During the week, 28 students from the two universities worked on analytical projects dedicated to issues of strategic stability and climate change.
Similar module was held in March 2018. Last year, critical issues on the agenda, such as information security and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, became the key topics of the educational module. In 2019, students were assigned to prepare reports on topics related to global nuclear stability and climate change mitigation.
On March 22, the groups presented prepared reports to the Foreign Ministry of Russia, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and the MGIMO expert commission headed by the Vice-President for Graduate and International Programs Andrey Baykov.
The conference was aimed at promotion of mutual understanding between the two diplomatic schools on the actual issues on international agenda. During the week, leading domestic experts spoke to the participants. Among them were director of MGIMO’s Odintsovo branch Sergey Vasiliev, Professor at the department of International Relations and Foreign Affairs Andrei Zagorski, Associate Professor at the Department of Applied Analysis of International Issues at MGIMO Igor Istomin, Lecturer at the Department of Natural Resources and Ecology Studies at MGIMO University Ekaterina Bliznetskaya, and Lecturer at the Department of International Law at MGIMO University Inna Zhuravleva.
In addition to MGIMO representatives, external experts participated in the discussions. Among them were Minister-Counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow Thomas Leary, Director of the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Director of the Environmental Investment Center Mikhail Yulkin, Director of the PIR-Center Albert Zulkharneev, Program Director of the PIR-Center Adlan Margoev, Deputy Chair of the Department for International Security, Lomonosov Moscow State University Vasily Veselov and Associate Professor, Faculty of World Politics, Moscow State University Alexey Fenenko.
The module’s program also included events at external venues – an expert discussion at the Valdai Club, a visit to the Russian Foreign Ministry and a presentation of the activities of the groups to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov; a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow with a presentation of the results of work conducted by student groups to the U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman. The discussion at the Valdai Club was devoted to the Belt and Road initiative and was led by Program Directors Timofei Bordachev and Yaroslav Lissovolik, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vasily Kashin, and the Deputy Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Faculty of World Economy and World Politics of the Higher School of Economics Dmitry Suslov.
Since 2017, MGIMO University has been implementing an extensive program of cooperation with The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The Fletcher School is the oldest institution dedicated to international studies in the U.S. It is also one of the world’s most respected schools of international affairs. In November, the first joint conference was held in Boston, the purpose of which was to systematize the existing disagreements between Moscow and Washington. In May 2018, the second joint conference was held in Moscow. On March 18–20, simultaneously with the educational module, the Third Russian-U.S. Conference was held at MGIMO University.
This piece was translated and republished from the MGIMO website.