At the site of the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of the Presidential Academy on April 23rd, the international conference “Strategy for Greater Eurasia: Civilizational, Sociocultural and Economic Foundations” took place. The conference was organized by the Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service of the Presidential Academy, the International Research Institute for Management Problems, the Institute of Economic Strategies, and the Franco Frattini Institute of Eurasian Studies.
During the conference, speakers discussed issues related to the role of Eurasian integration in the creation of a multipolar geopolitical space, value and the economic foundations of long-term development and integration of the countries of the Eurasian continent, the impact of scientific transformation and the process of internationalization of education on the map of Greater Eurasia, the scenario for the future development of Russia within the framework of the “Greater Eurasia” strategy, taking into account the geopolitical context, the humanitarian and ideological foundations for strengthening cooperation of the EAEU integration association.
The moderators of the international conference were Alexander Ageev, General Director of the International Research Institute of Management Problems, and Carolina Sikirinskaya, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the IPACS Presidential Academy.
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Alexander Ageev emphasized in his welcoming speech:
“Our international conference today brought together a completely unique composition of participants. The idea and initiative itself are connected with the scientific and practical activities of the outstanding Franco Frattini. We are grateful to the Presidential Academy for their hospitality”.
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Carolina Sikirinskaya noted:
“The development of the “Greater Eurasia” project is a complex and important topic for study by IPACS students, so this Conference will be the beginning of a large research project within the framework of the Additional Professional Development Program, in which more than 50 students and staff will take part IPACS”.
In addition, Leonid Drachevsky, executive director of the Public Diplomacy Support Fund named after. A.M. Gorchakova. In his speech, he noted:
“I express my gratitude for the invitation to this conference on behalf of the entire Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Support Fund. I am glad that students are present at this conference, because our Foundation interacts very closely with bachelors, masters, and graduate students in various areas of scientific activity”.
The first report to the conference participants was made by Viktor Ivanov, President of the Association “Russian House of International Scientific and Technical Cooperation”, with the topic “Greater Eurasia as the main means of restoring the sovereignty of Europe.” In his report, the speaker paid special attention to the issue of loss of sovereignty by the countries of the European Union:
“This issue (loss of sovereignty) closely resonates with the agenda of the conference “Strategy of Greater Eurasia”, as the main means of restoring the countries of this region, because only through Eurasia can European countries restore their former sovereignty”.
Natalia Narochnitskaya, President of the Historical Perspective Foundation, presented a report to her colleagues and students on the topic “Russia and Europe in new historical realities, geopolitics, ideology, public consciousness.” In it, she placed special emphasis on historical value guidelines:
“History is the forge of a person’s worldview and the nursery of his ideals, without understanding historical processes and their continuity, it is very difficult to understand the present and, even more so, to relatively accurately predict what will happen in the future”.
Report on the topic “The cyclical movement of history and the Russia-EU dialogue. The example of Franco Frattini” was delivered by Andrea Giannotti, executive director of the Institute of Eurasian Studies “Franco Frattini”, associate professor of the history of international relations at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosova, professor at the University of Pisa (Italy). He spoke about the cyclical development of history:
“There are several historical parallels that have been repeated for more than two centuries with incredible continuity. With a certain periodicity, the countries of the Western world create so-called Russophobic waves; the same texts of the 20s and 30s of the 19th century are reprinted, in which the political and economic structure of Russia is demonized”.
Separately, in his speech, Andrea Giannotti recalled the contribution of Franco Frattini to the development of research on the topic of “Greater Eurasia” and his activities as an honorary professor of the Presidential Academy.
The international conference “Strategy for Greater Eurasia: Civilizational, Sociocultural and Economic Foundations” in memory of Franco Frattini became the starting point of an additional professional development program “Strategy for Managing International Cooperation.” More than 50 students, staff and scientists will take part in the further education program, who will have to complete a curriculum of 72 academic hours.
The learning process is complex and interactive, including theoretical blocks, practical tasks, business games and simulation modeling. As a final assessment, participants will have to defend group projects on developing individual elements of a strategy for managing Russia’s international cooperation with certain countries from a given list.
Its goal will be to deepen knowledge about geopolitical and geo-economic processes in the modern world, especially on the Eurasian continent, as well as to develop skills in complex analysis and forecasting of international processes, strategic planning in the field of international cooperation.