8 April 2017
April 7th, MGIMO welcomed the renowned international scholar and Dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations of Tsinghua University Yan Xuetong. The guest delivered a lecture in English entitled: «Moral Realism Explains the Current International Situations».
Yan Xuetong, also President of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Management board, is famous for his research in foreign policy, national security and US-China relations. The guest was introduced to the audience by MGIMO’s Vice-Rector for Graduate and International Programs, Andrey Baykov, who met with the Chinese Professor prior to the lecture to discuss the opportunities for cooperation between the two universities.
The speaker opened his lecture by analyzing the concept of «moral realism» and went on to demonstrate that China is on its way to becoming a superpower because it has adopted effective economic, ideological and social reforms. Yan Xuetong noted that if a country is going to be a world leader, it must start by making changes at home and should develop friendly relations with all countries. The guest also underlined the essential role elites play in the development of a state and how they determine its position on the international arena.
The lecture aroused great interest among students, who put a myriad of questions to the professor concerning the supposed rivalry between China and the United States, differences in potential between the two countries, the PRC’s position on North Korea and how China impacts modern globalization.
— See the MGIMO web-site for more photos and russian version
