IISS Russian Regional Perspectives on Foreign and Security Policy Programme
On 6-9 December 2001 the International Institute for Strategic Studies Russia and Eurasia Programme recently held the first in a series of conferences planned for the seven Russian Federal Districts. The event took place in Velikiy Novgorod in the North West Federal District under the title, 'Prospects for Enhancing Co-operation between the North-Western Regions of Russia and Baltic Sea States'.
The Conference welcomed 120 participants, 80 of them Russian from local, regional and federal government, academia and commerce who travelled from all over the region ranging from Arkhangelsk in the North, to Komi in the East and Pskov in the West. International participants came from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Baltic States and represented Ministries of Foreign Affairs, NGOs working on regional co-operation, the EU, academia and commerce. IISS staff attending were Oksana Antonenko, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia, Kathryn Pinnick, who was the conference coordinator, Christopher Langton, Research Fellow and Klaus Becher, Senior Fellow.
The joint organisers, IISS and the Centre for Integration Research, St. Petersburg secured the support of government on the local and federal level. The Conference was opened by Lyubov Sovershaeva, Deputy to President Putin's plenipotentiary in the North-West District, and was closed by Lyubov Andreeva, Federal Inspector for the President Administration in NW Russia. Media coverage was extensive on local television stations and in the local press.
The issues discussed at the plenary sessions of the Conference focused on the current state of the relationships between NW Russia and its neighbours. In addition, each delegate joined one of these three working groups for in-depth discussion:
- Economic Benefits of Regional Co-operation
- Shaping a Common Cultural Space between NW Russia and its Neighbours
- Soft Security and Confidence-Building Measures in the Region
Throughout the proceedings, many positive examples were cited of cross-border trade, cultural programmes and security collaboration and there was recognition that the prospects for further co-operation are great. However, speakers listed a wide range of obstacles to further integration. The Conference met its objective of engaging regional elites in a dialogue on how to deal with the challenges posed not only by forthcoming EU and Nato enlargement but also by existing soft security problems (e.g. drug trafficking, migration), market liberalisation and the information age. In his closing speech, Robert Nurick from the Carnegie Centre, Moscow commented that the dialogue fostered by the Conference and the IISS Programme as a whole had the potential to contribute to enhanced security for NW Russia in the post Cold War era.
Outcomes
In all there were more than 30 presentations to the Conference. A selection of 15 of the papers together with conclusions from the Chairmen of the Working Groups will be edited for an electronic publication: Russian Regional Security Digest which will provide regional perspectives on Russia's security agenda. It will be available on the IISS website from February 2002.
Three follow-up seminars are planned for 2002:
In Kaliningrad on the economic, political and military dimensions of Kaliningrad's relations with its neighbours in the context of EU and NATO enlargement
In Pskov on the future of Russia's relations with the Baltic States
In Murmansk/Archangelsk on European and international assistance in addressing environmental cooperation and the problems of disposing of nuclear materials
