Author: Sarah Bidgood

NPTS and Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies students Sarah Bidgood and Julia Diamond joined students from Berkeley, Stanford and Russia’s National Research Nuclear University (MEPhI) in Moscow at the MEPhI-Stanford University Nuclear Youth Forum this past week.  This two-day workshop was conducted as part of the Nuclear Risk Reduction initiative and was jointly coordinated by Stanford’s CISAC and MEPhI on the initiative of Dr. Siegfried Hecker. During the course of the workshop, students heard expert presentations on nuclear nonproliferation and countering nuclear terrorism.  They also divided into working groups and began to develop joint research projects addressing these issues that they will carry out over the next five months.  In the fall, the students will have the opportunity to present their research findings together at a capstone conference at Stanford.

This week, the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies hosts two visiting experts from Russia on campus.

Dr. Alexey Arbatov is the head of the Center for International Security at IMEMO in Moscow and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He will serve as a panelist for the Georgy Arbatov Memorial Lecture Series event on Tuesday, May 3rd at 6 PM, entitled, “Nowhere To Go But Up? US-Russia Relations and the Threat of Nuclear War” in Irvine Auditorium (McCone Building).  He will also deliver a public lecture in English on Wednesday May 4th from 12:15-2:00 PM in Irvine Auditorium on the crisis in contemporary arms control.

Dr. Nadia Arbatova is the head of the Department of European Political Studies at IMEMO, Russian Academy of Sciences, in Moscow. Dr Arbatova will speak in Russian on Russian perspectives on European security in the context of the Ukraine Crisis on Tuesday, May 3rd from 2-4 PM in MG102 (McGowan Building). She will deliver a second lecture about Russia’s contemporary Euro-Atlantic policy in Russian from 2-4 PM on Thursday, May 5th in V-499 VC Room (CNS).

Drs. Arbatov and Arbatova are the 8th and 9th speakers to visit MIIS this semester through the Visiting Experts series, a foundational element of the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies. The Initiative comprises four other primary programs: a field research trip to the Russian Far East for MIIS and Middlebury students led by Professor Tsuneo Akaha; coordinating and supporting MIIS students in undertaking summer research and internship opportunities in Russia; translating weekly public opinion polls conducted by the Levada-center from Russian to English; and the GIRS-NSO student dialogue series on contemporary topics.  For more information on the list of upcoming experts for this semester and on the Initiative itself, please visit: https://sites.middlebury.edu/russianinitiative/

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies
present
The Georgy Arbatov Memorial Lecture Series

Nowhere To Go But Up?: US-Russia Relations and the Threat of Nuclear War
A Panel Discussion by Dr. Alexey Arbatov, Dr. Brad Roberts, and Dr. David Holloway
Moderated by Dr. Jeffrey Knopf

Dr. Alexey Arbatov, Dr. Brad Roberts, and Dr. David Holloway, among the most distinguished scholars in the field of nonproliferation and disarmament, will discuss the future of US-Russia cooperation on questions relating to nuclear weapons. Their panel discussion will be moderated by Dr. Jeffrey Knopf, chair of the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS).  The panel will take place on May 3, 2016, at 6 PM on the MIIS campus.  This event is being organized and hosted by the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. It is the second lecture in the Initiative’s Georgy Arbatov Memorial Lecture Series, in which speakers highlight lessons learned from past US-Russian cooperation during the Cold War and provide recommendations for a new dialogue.

During this panel discussion, Dr. Arbatov, Dr. Roberts, and Dr. Holloway will address questions including, but not limited to, the following: Can dialogue between Russia and the US on nuclear weapons issues be resumed? What are current US and Russian plans for nuclear weapons modernization? What are the implications of these developments? What can be done to reduce the likelihood of nuclear weapons use? What is the historical context of nuclear weapons cooperation and how has it evolved?  How much do personalities matter in Russian and US government decision-making?
Dr. Arbatov is a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and heads the Center for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), where he also completed his graduate and post-graduate studies. Dr. Arbatov served three terms in Russia’s Duma and was a member of the Soviet delegation to the START I negotiations.  In addition to his roles at IMEMO, Dr. Arbatov also chairs nonproliferation program at Carnegie Center Moscow.

Dr. Brad Roberts is the director of the Center for Global Research Security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy during the first Obama administration. In this capacity, Dr. Roberts helped to lead the administration’s Nuclear Policy Review and its Ballistic Missile Defense Review.  Dr. Roberts is the author of The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century, which he wrote during his time as a William Perry Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University.

Dr. David Holloway is the Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History at Stanford University. He has served as co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford, as well as director of the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies. Dr. Holloway has authored numerous works on the history of nuclear weapons with a specific focus on the Soviet Union including Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956, which was selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 1994.

Jeffrey W. Knopf is a professor in the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where he serves as the chair of the M.A. program in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies. Dr. Knopf is also a senior research associate at the Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). His most recent publication is a book volume he edited on International Cooperation on WMD Nonproliferation, published by University of Georgia Press.

Middlebury College students Michelle Kim, Katherine Baughman, and Daniel Bateyko, and Middlebury Institute professor Tsuneo Akaha traveled to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk from March 25 to April 1, as part of the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies (GIRS). The group had busy but productive itineraries in the two Russian cities, which included meetings with university faculty members, their students, researchers, journalists, regional government officials, and representatives of civil society organizations. Professor Akaha gave a lecture on “Japan’s Policy toward Russia” at the School of Regional and International Studies, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, and at the Economic Research Institute, the two institutions that hosted the visiting team.

The three students as a group and individually met with local experts to discuss their respective research topics: Michelle on Russia’s relations with North and South Korea and the nature of relations among the various Korean communities in the Russian Far East; Katie on the impact of the Ukraine crisis on Russia’s relations with Asian countries; and Dan on the relations between the Russian Far East and Japan with a focus on the role of mutual perceptions between Russian and Japanese partners in business and other ventures. They interviewed university professors, researchers, and other local experts from the Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok), the International Relations Department of the Parimorsky Regional Administration (Vladivostok), the Korean Center (Ussuriisk), the Economic Research Institute (Khabarovsk), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Representative Office (Khabarovsk), the International Association of Economic Interaction (Khabarovsk), Khabarovsk State University of Economics and Law, the Far Eastern Institute of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy & Public Service, the Khabarovsk Society of Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Association of Korean Organizations (Khabarovsk), the Association of Korean Families (Khabarovsk), and the Japan Center (Khabarovsk). The students conducted some of these interviews in Russian. This was their first visit to the Russian Far East, so they took advantage of every opportunity available to observe the local scene, from a North Korean restaurant and a Georgian restaurant to the site of the 2012 APEC Summit in Vladivostok, and history and archaeology museums and other cultural sites in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. They also enjoyed a night-train ride on the last segment of the Trans-Siberian Railroad between these two cities. Following the field trip, the students will be writing a research report based on their field interviews and observations as well as the reading of academic analyses they discussed with Professor Akaha in preparation for the trip.

The Research Trip to the Russian Far East is a core component of GIRS programming. For more information on the trip, please click here.

During the week of April 11, 2016, the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies (GIRS) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies will host three preeminent Russian scholars as part of its Visiting Experts series. The first, Dr. Victoria Zhuravleva, is a professor and the director of the Program on American Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities. She is also the Vice-Director of the University’s Department of International Relations and Area Studies. Prof. Zhuravleva will present a lecture entitled, “Russian-American relations from the 19th century to the 20th century: international interactions and mutual perceptions (from Tsarist Russia to Soviet Russia)” in Russian on Monday, April 11 from 2-4 PM in McGowan 102.

The second speaker, Dr. Ivan Kurilla, is a Professor and the director of Development of Partnership Initiatives at the European University in St. Petersburg. Prof. Kurilla will deliver a lecture entitled, “Historical memory and interpretations of history (in Russia, Eastern and Central Europe, and the United States).” This lecture will be in Russian, and it will take place on Tuesday, April 12 from 2-4 PM in McGowan 102.

The third speaker is Dr. Dmitry Adamsky, Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the IDC Herzliya.  Dr. Adamsky will present two lectures in Russian: “History of Russia’s involvement in the Middle East” and “The United States and Russia in the Middle East Now” from 1-2:50 on Thursday, April 14 in McGowan 102.  A question and answer session, also in Russian, will follow both lectures from 3-3:50 PM.

Prof. Zhuravleva, Prof. Kurilla, and Dr. Adamsky are the 5th, 6th, and 7th speakers respectively to visit MIIS this semester through the Visiting Experts series, a foundational element of the Graduate Initiative in Russian Studies. The Initiative comprises three other primary programs: a field research trip to the Russian Far East for MIIS and Middlebury students led by Professor Tsuneo Akaha; coordinating and supporting MIIS students in undertaking summer research and internship opportunities in Russia; and translating weekly public opinion polls conducted by the Levada-center from Russian to English.  For more information on the list of upcoming experts for this semester and on the Initiative itself, please visit: https://sites.middlebury.edu/russianinitiative/