31 October 2019
October 29th–31st, MGIMO welcomed a delegation of lecturers, graduate and PhD students of Princeton University (USA).
The main goal of their trip was to participate in a Russian-American simulation game “Modelling the International Crisis over Afghanistan”, during which the “representatives” of Central Asian countries and of the world powers searched for a way to solve the conflict. The twenty guests from the United States and sixty MGIMO students participated in the simulation. The game yielded some interesting results, as the main contradictions and opportunities for international cooperation, in case of a worsening of the crisis, were identified. The game unfolded on the day of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Academician E. Primakov, who was one of the founders of the Russian school of situational analysis in international relations, and this game is on the official program of events devoted to this meaningful date for MGIMO.
A number of Russian experts specialized in the history of Russian-American relations and Russia's perspective on resolving conflicts in Central and South Asia had a productive exchange of views at the University with the students and lecturers from Princeton. The meeting was attended by Vladimir Pechatnov, Professor at the Department of History and Politics of Europe and America, and Ekaterina Stepanova Head of the Peace and Conflicts Unit at IMEMO, Russian Academy of Sciences. During the meeting, Michael Reynolds, the Director of Princeton University’s Program in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies, and the creator of the script for the business game, Ph.D. candidate at Princeton Katherine Elgin discussed with MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov, Vice-Rector Andrey Baykov and the Dean of the School of Government and International Affairs Mikhail Troitskiy opportunities to expand cooperation between the two universities. The parties also exchanged views on the current trends and challenges in bilateral relations.
October 31st, the delegation was received by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister S.Ryabkov. The guests visited the premises of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Museum of Diplomatic History.
Cooperation between MGIMO and Princeton in this format began in February 2019, when a similar simulation on the Koran crisis was held with the participation of MGIMO students at Princeton University. A scientific conference was simultaneously held in Princeton and devoted to strategic stability and nuclear disarmament, with the participation of Andrey Baykov and Mikhail Troitskiy.
— See the MGIMO web-site for russian version
