Latin America took the center of the stage during the 5th International Conference “The World Majority in New Realities: the Regional Dimension”

On December 1^st, the School of Regional Studies of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of the HSE University received Latin American diplomats and scholars to conduct a debate the role of the region in the formation of a multipolar world. The debate “Latin America in the Context of Formation of the World Multipolarity” was held under the auspices of the 5^th International Conference “The World Majority in New Realities: the Regional Dimension”.

Under the moderation of professor Olga Volosyuk, scholars from leading universities of Brazil, Argentina and Russia exchanged views on the future of Russian-Latin American relations, the region’s positioning in the World Majority and perspectives for South-South Cooperation. The Ambassador of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Daniel Ruben Castillos Gomes, and the representative of the Brazilian Embassy in Moscow, Fabio Cunha Pinto Coelho, assessed the scholar’s points of view and provided a rare glance at the official position of their countries regarding the issues under debate. The Russian Ambassador Vladimir Zaiemsky also contributed to the session by sharing his unique experience as Russia’s representative in Venezuela.

During the debates, the professor of Political Sciences of the Brazilian Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRS), Fabiano Mielniczuk, assessed the Brazil’s strategy to navigate the centrifugal and centripetal tendencies of South American regionalism. His compatriot, the coordinator of the Post-Graduate Program on International Political Economy of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Ricardo Zortea, made use of the realist perspective to evaluate Great Power’s struggle in Latin America. The professor of International Relation of the Argentinian National University of La Plata, Gabriel Merino, emphasized the role of the BRICS in the regional integration of South American countries.

The importance of including the cultural and psychological dimensions of Latin American countries into political analysis was highlighted by professor Elena Astakhova, chief editor of the academic journal “Cuadernos Iberoamericanos”, published by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).  Moreover, the emerging relevance of issues such as food security in international politics was surveyed by Alla Borzova, professor of the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at RUDN University and one of the leading specialists in Brazil in contemporary Russia.

The prospects of cooperation in the field of economic development were assessed by the professor of the School of World Economy of the Higher School of Economics, Alexandra Morozkina. A critical perspective on Latin American-Russian relations was provided by professor of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Yury Sigov, that highlighted the many obstacles that the parties have to overcome in order to enhance its mutual relations.

Furthermore, PhD candidates Ana Livia Esteves (HSE University) and Valentina Dyakova (Russian Foreign Trade Academy) developed on commercial and economic relations between Latin American countries and the Russian Federation, while Ivan Ermolaev (RUDN University) updated the audience on the projection of power of South American countries in the Antarctica.