The Second Boot Camp of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy has been finished

The HSE University in cooperation with The Harvard University and other partners have completed The Second Boot Camp of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA).

As a member of the organizing team Lev Sokolshchik (PhD, Candidate of Science, research fellow of the CCEIS HSE) took part in The Second Boot Camp of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy, held in an online format form on January 11–15, 2021. The coordinator of the project from The HSE University made a welcoming speech to the participants from USA, Europe, Russia and other countries.

The main topic of the Second Boot Camp was a multilateral strategic stability in the modern world. As a part of the camp's agenda, a series of scientific discussions, lectures, and presentations were held with participation of the world's leading experts in the field of international relations, regional and global security. The experts were members of the International Advisory Board of AСONA: Deputy Director of the CCEIS HSE Dmitry Suslov, Vice-Rector of the MGIMO University Andrey Baykov, Deputy Director of Peace Research Institute Frankfurt Christopher Daas, Director of Institute of International Affairs, University of Iceland Pia Hansson, Director of History and Public Policy Program of Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Christian F. Ostermann, Head of the Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of MGIMO University Alexei Arbatov, Professor of International Affairs at University of Iceland Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir. Moreover, at the events of the camp took part some officials. In particular, the Ambassador of Russia to the United States Anatoly Antonov and a member of the House of Lords of Great Britain Baroness Catherine Ashton had special speeches for the Fellows.

One of the key aspects of the camp's agenda were presentations of the scientific projects drafts of the Fellows to the expert board. The projects were prepared under the supervision of the curators in the period between two sessions of the Academy. Over the next few months, the participants will be finalize their research projects and the results will be presented during the Third ACONA Boot Camp, which will take place in May 2021.

The ACONA program is s a 12-month, high-level professional development program for a competitively selected cohort of rising international security experts and practitioners. In total, 16 Fellows are taking part in the program – four each from Russia, the United States, Europe, and a group of other countries. Among Russian participants were: Maria Chepurina (Comprehensive Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty Preparatory Commission), Maria Roskoshnaya (JSC "RusAtom Service"), Astan Tugov (MFA of Russia), Oleg Krivolapov (ICS RAS).

The Arms Control Negotiation Academy is a joint educational project of the Negotiating Group of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, the Woodrow Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program (USA), the HSE University, the Frankfurt Peace Research Institute (FRG), the Reykjavik Peace Center Höfdi at the University of Iceland, MGIMO.