International Conference Held Jointly with the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
On December 10, an international conference 'Black Sea Region: Increasing Conflict Zone or Space for Cooperation?' was held in the format of situation analysis.
The event was organized by the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs represented by the HSE International Laboratory on World Order Studies and the New Regionalism together with The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Gorchakov Foundation.
The conference opened with welcoming speeches by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs Higher School of Economics Sergey Karaganov and the Director of the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Kuznetsov, who emphasized in their speeches the great contribution of Russia to the development of the Black Sea region in the conditions of international instability. In total, more than 10 reports were presented at the conference, distributed on three topics of expert discussions: analysis of the causes of tension in the Black Sea region, cooperation between Russia and Turkey to overcome this tension and find solutions to the problem of conflict in the region.
The opening section of the conference was devoted to the discussion of security measures in the Black Sea region and the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis, which created the risks of increasing confrontation between various forces in the region. Particularly, Professor of Istanbul University Veysel Batmas in his speech stressed that the peoples of Russia and of Turkey had no ethnic conflicts, and clashes in the course of history were dictated by only political reasons. Therefore, he has concluded that a more constructive dialogue between nations to avoid such clashes in the future should be set up.
In the second session, the participants addressed not only to the need to overcome the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis, adversely affecting the relations of the leading forces of the region, but also to the increased economic development in the Black Sea region to deal with conflicts at the local level and improve the quality of life of the population. The third section was marked by a large number of speakers, who focused on the geopolitical importance of the region and the need for more coherent foreign policy regulation.
After the presentation of the speakers in each section, special time was allocated to discuss the reports and to find consensus on the issues mentioned above.