The Department was established in 2003 under the name «Department of European Integration». At the time of its creation, it was the first Department in Russia that carried out teaching and research in European integration studies. Professor Olga Butorina, the founder of the Department, headed it in 2003-2012.
The MGIMO-University has been actively developing comparative integration studies in recent years. It has become evident that classical analytical approaches developed on the basis of EU studies can not be regarded as the only possible approach for study of integration processes in other regions of the world. Russian academic community started to pay greater attention to integration processes in the East of the European continent, first of all, to the development of the second integration core — the Eurasian Economic Union.
In line with the broadening of the research field, the Department was renamed to «Department of Integration Studies » in January 2015.
The staff of the Department includes corresponding member of Russian Academy of Science Alexey Kuznetsov, academic professor Oleg Barabanov, professors Lev Voronkov, Dmitry Danilov and Marina Strezhneva, associate professors Natalia Bolshova, Elena Maslova, Alexander Tevdoy-Bourmouli and Anna Tsibulina. The Department is one of the youngest within the MGIMO-University; the average age of the staff is 42 years. Jean Monnet professor Nikolay Kaveshnikov has headed the Department since 2012
Basic lecture courses of the Department are: ‘Integration processes in the contemporary world’, ‘Integration processes in Europe and America’, ‘Modern trends of integration in the European Union’, ‘Comparative integration’, ‘Eurasian integration’. The Department teaches about 50 courses of bachelor and master level in the European Studies Institute, faculties of international relations, international economic relations, governance and politics.
Department staff made up the core of the author team of the textbook «European integration» (2011), prepared by the MGIMO-University in cooperation with the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Science. This is the first Russian textbook on European integration studies for students in international relations, political science and economics. The textbook presents systematized and comprehensive picture of integration process in Europe since the mid-twentieth century till present time.
The second edition of the textbook «European integration» was published in 2016. The content of the textbook was significantly revised. The second edition reflects the latest trends of developments of the European Union, Eurasian Economic Union and other regional integration organizations
Another textbook «European Union: History, Institutions and Policies» was published by Nikolay Kaveshnikov and Yury Matveevsky in 2017. The manual presents focal points of EU development, exposes key factors of integration dynamic and provides basic characteristics of main EU policies.
The scientific school the Department of Integration Studies is based on comprehensive interdisciplinary approach; linkage between theoretical analysis and practical knowledge; aspiration for reflecting the diversity of the integration processes in Western and Eastern Europe; synergy of academic research and teaching; active participation in international academic discussion.
Professors of the Department have a good academic reputation in Russia and abroad. In 2005 the then head of Department professor Olga Butorina received the status of Jeanne Monet Chair and appropriate grant from the European Commission. This honorary title is awarded to the best research and teaching teams, specializing in European integration studies. In 2008 the Department of European integration of the MGIMO-University was mentioned among the 20 most successful Jean Monnet Chairs from non-EU countries. Actual head of the Department Nikolay Kaveshnikov received Jeanne Monet Chair status in 2012.
Last update — June 2020
Nikolay Kaveshnikov
