18 May 2019
On May 18th during the the 5th MGIMO World Alumni Forum the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) hosted a Russian-Uzbek expert meeting on regional security, multilateral cooperation, and the development of Central Asia.
In his opening statement, Abdujabar Abduvakhitov, the Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan and the Rector of UWED, said that the planned opening of a MGIMO branch-campus in Tashkent would present a new channel of meaningful cooperation and would certainly serve the interests of the two countries.
MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov stressed that substantial cooperation between his university and UWED has existed for many years. Opening the discussion, Torkunov spoke about the regional development: «We are witnessing changes in international relations, new threats and challenges, but new solutions to the geopolitical issues are also emerging. It’s obvious that the relations between Russia and Uzbekistan are developing very intensively. Uzbekistan seeks diversification, putting a premium on an effective, strategic partnership with Russia».
The Russian side was represented by Dmitry Rurikov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Viktoria Panova, Vice-Rector for International Relations of Far Eastern Federal University; Andrey Sushentsov, Director of MGIMO Institute of International Studies (ISS); Irina Zvyagelskaya, Professor at the Department of Oriental Studies, Head of the Middle East Studies sector of IMEMO Russian Academy of Sciences; Andrey Kazantsev, Director of IIS Center for Central Asia and Afghanistan; Aleksandr Nikitin, Director of ISS Center for Euro-Atlantic Security; Viktor Sumsky, Director of ASEAN Center in MGIMO; Aleksei Voskresensky, Director of Center for Comprehensive Chinese Studies and Regional Projects; Ivan Safranchuk, Leading Researcher of ISS Center for Central Asia and Afghanistan; Yuri Dubinin, Professor at the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia; Mikhail Troitsky, Dean of the School of Government and International Affairs; Henry Sardanyan, Dean of the School of Governance and Politics; Igbal Guliev, Deputy Director of the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy; Associate Professors Andrey Loboda and Andzhey Gabarta; and Vladimir Avatkov, Senior Researcher at Sector of the Caucasus of IMEMO Russian Academy of Sciences Center for Post-Soviet Studies.
The meeting was moderated by MGIMO Vice-Rector Artem Malgin.
— See the MGIMO web-site for russian version
