Leading US and Russian Policy Analysts and Scholars Hold Open Dialogue on Crucial Global Issues

In this much-celebrated 200th anniversary year of US-Russia diplomatic relations, there is a great need for bilateral dialogue on numerous issues. For two centuries, the relationship between these two nations has continually reshaped itself—including periods of productive collaboration and other times of tension and suspicion. In recent years, the United States and Russia have come face to face with new global challenges, from terrorism to energy security, that have resulted in mounting tensions surrounding several international and domestic policies. Now, as much as ever, there is a need and desire to establish opportunities for open dialogue, mutual understanding, and partnership between these nations on such issues. The recent US-Russia Experts Forum program’s Final Conference served as one such mechanism, through which over 200 leading analysts, policymakers, and scholars from the US and Russia had the opportunity to come together to engage in open and frank discussions on issues in contemporary relations from multi-disciplinary approaches.

The one-day conference, held in Moscow in November, focused on key themes arising from the 2006 G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, such as education reform, energy security, infectious diseases, immigration issues, cooperation between business and government, and anti-corruption efforts. The goals of the conference were to not only foster dialogue on these topics, but also to broaden the experts’ professional networks and inform and educate the public on important global issues through discussion and debate. The event was part of the US-Russia Experts Forum, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State and administered by IREX.

During each of the panel sessions, US and Russian expert teams, who collaborated for 10 weeks at leading American think-tanks and research institutions as part of the Forum program, jointly presented their research findings and concrete policy recommendations to a diverse audience of over 200 US and Russian analysts and policymakers. Conference participants included representatives from research centers, governmental entities, and universities from 34 cities throughout Russia. A sampling of institutions includes the Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation; the Center for Integration Research and Projects (CIRP); the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences; the Institute for Energy and Finance; the Federation of Immigrants of Russia; the Federal Institute of Educational Development; the Russian-American Judicial Partnership; the Institute of World Economy & International Relations (IMEMO), Sector of the Politics Theory; and the Russian Public Policy Center.

Joint policy papers authored by the US and Russian experts during the course of the program were printed and distributed to all conference participants in an effort to reach broader audiences with the tangible results of the collaborative research.

Following his participation in the ten-week program and final conference, US Forum expert Richard Weitz of the Hudson Institute remarked that “The Forum provides a unique contribution to our understanding of US-Russian relations by allowing groups of scholars to work intensely with each other on issues of vital importance to both countries. My Russian partner and I both approached the issue from our unique national perspectives, which contained many implicit biases and assumptions that only became apparent through our intense dialogue.”

US Forum expert Paul Saunders of the Nixon Center commented, “I found the conference useful in getting a sense of current Russian perspectives on key issues and in having a chance to meet new people who are not "usual suspects" one typically encounters.  Both of these things are very helpful to each side in developing a deeper understanding of the other country and establishing practical links that can deepen the web of person-to-person contacts between our two countries.”

The US-Russia Experts Forum, has been implemented by IREX since 2005 and aims to foster dialogue between US and Russian experts on policy issues affecting the relationship between the two nations, develop a public policy community of US and Russian experts who share common goals and experiences, develop the Russian capacity to inject ideas into policymaking processes and public dialogue on policy issues, and enable Russian institutions to transform research findings into usable policy recommendations.

The themes for the 2008 Forum will include transnational crime and corruption and will encompass a variety of subtopics including terrorism, trafficking of drugs and human beings, nuclear material security, organized crime, and law enforcement cooperation, among others.

Partial list of the 2007 Forum’s participants:

    * Maxim Barbashin, Senior Research Fellow, Center for System and Regional Studies and Prognosis, South Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
    * Maria Belova, Senior Expert, Energy Department, Institute for Energy and Finance, Moscow, Russia
    * Evgeniya Bessonova, Economist, Center for Economic and financial Research (CEFIR), Moscow, Russia
    * David Braaten, Deputy Director, Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS), University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
    * Terry F. Buss, Director of International Studies, National Academy of Public Administration, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Sergey Chernyakov, Head of the Geophysical Observatory, Polar Geophysical Institute, Kola Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Murmansk, Russia
    * Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Boris Demidov, Guide for Governance Network, Development Gateway Foundation, Moscow, Russia
    * Fedor Dudyrev, Deputy Director, Center of Professional and Educational Standards, Federal Institute of Educational Development, Moscow, Russia
    * Liudmila Erokhina, Senior Research Fellow, Vladivostok Center for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption, Vladivostok, Russia
    * Viacheslav Evseev, Director, Government and Public Affairs, Russian Managers Association, Moscow, Russia
    * Tatiana Fomina, Project Manager, Research Department, Center for Humanitarian Technologies and Research “Social Mechanics,” Samara, Russia
    * Vyacheslav Gavrilov, Dean, International Law Department, Law Institute, The Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
    * Elżbieta M. Goździak, Director of Research, Institute for the Study of International Migration, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Aftab Kazi, Senior Fellow, Central Asia – Caucasus Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Oleg Kiselev, Director, Research Institute of Influenza, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
    * Sergey Kremen, Associate Professor, Department of Pedagogy, The Smolensk State University, Smolensk, Russia
    * Ruslan Kurbanov, Head of the Policy Department, Smysl Magazine, Moscow, Russia
    * Rose Marie Martinez, Director, Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice, Institute
    * Aims C. McGuinness, Jr., Senior Associate, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), Boulder, CO, USA
    * Vitaly Merkushev, Director, Eurasian Political Studies Network, Moscow, Russia
    * Martin G. Myers, Director for Public Health Policy and Education, Sealy Center for Vaccine
    * Olga Oliker, Senior International Policy Analyst, The Rand Corporation, Arlington, VA
    * Kevin M. Reichelt, Program Attorney, International Intellectual Property Institute, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Oleg Reut, Research Fellow, International Relations Department, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk, Russia
    * Paul J. Saunders, Executive Director, The Nixon Center, Washington, D.C., USA
    * Olga Shamsheva, Head of Department, Department of Child Infectious Diseases, Russian State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
    * Eric Sparks , President-Elect, American School Counselor Association, Alexandria, VA
    * Devin T. Stewart, Director, Global Policy Innovations Program, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, New York, NY, USA
    * Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director of Program Management, Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C., USA