CONTENTS /01 GENERAL INFORMATION 4 /02 RIAC PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 07 /03 RIAC IN THE MEDIA 66 /04 RIAC WEBSITE 68 /05 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 70 3 ANNUAL REPORT 2019 GENERAL INFORMATION Russian International Affairs Council (NP RIAC) 01 is a Russian membership-based non-profit organization. The partnership was established by the resolution of its founders pursuant to Decree No. 59-rp of the President of the Russian Federation “On the Establishment of the Non-Profit Partnership Russian International Affairs Council” dated February 2, 2010. RIAC MISSION OUR MISSION IS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FOUNDERS PROSPERITY OF RUSSIA THROUGH ITS INTEGRATION INTO THE GLOBAL Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Education and Science COMMUNITY. of the Russian Federation of the Russian Federation mid.ru mon.gov.ru RIAC SERVES AS A LINK BETWEEN THE STATE, THE EXPERT COMMUNITY, AND Russian Academy of Sciences Russian Union of Industrialists THE BUSINESS AND ras.ru and Entrepreneurs CIVIL SOCIETIES IN rspp.ru ADRESSING FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES. Interfax International Information interfax.ru 4 Russian International Affairs Council Sergey Lavrov Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Board „ of Trustees of RIAC AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, WE VALUE OUR FRUITFUL COLLABORATION WITH RIAC, ONE OF THE KEY RUSSIAN THINK TANKS WHEN IT COMES TO INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS. THE INTERLINKAGE OF OUR COMBINED INTELLECTUAL POTENTIAL IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TODAY. 5 2 | RIAC ACTIVITIES RIAC PROGRAM ACTIVITIES ANNUAL REPORT 2019 RIAC PROGRAM 02 ACTIVITIES The substantive work of the Russian International Affairs Council in 2019 focused on several key issues that permeated RIAC’s projects and programmes throughout the year. The first issue is dynamics of the current inter- nesses? In what ways can the situation be changed? national order and contours of the future world What should be done to minimize the damage? order. The central questions related to this issue are The sixth issue is related to the improvement of as follows: how exactly will the new world order be the effectiveness of Russian institutions and orga- structured? What parameters will determine this nizations abroad when it comes to communicating new world order? How will the structure of interna- with the international community. This applies to tional relations affect strategies of the key actors? government bodies, as well as to businesses, univer- The second issue is the impact of modern sities, and other public organizations. The key issue technological and informational realities on the here is the development of optimal communication international security and world politics. How will AI strategies in the rapidly changing digital environ- technologies change the face of the modern world? ment. What is the essence of changes in the digital environ- These and other issues have been discussed ment? What are opportunities and threats of these within a series of RIAC projects and programmes changes for Russia? How should an effective public- covering the country-specific, regional, and func- private partnership look like in the face of these new tional areas. The work under the country-specific and challenges and threats? regional tracks was concentrated on developing rela- The third issue is international conflicts. A particu- tions with China and India, Russia’s key international lar emphasis in this context is given to the open and partners. The expert dialogue on the Russia–Japan so-called ‘frozen’ (latent) conflicts that pose a threat relations revealed a number of difficulties in devel- to Russia, its allies, and partners. What are some pos- oping a partnership but was nevertheless useful sible scenarios for the development of these conflicts in terms of gaining an understanding of the situa- moving forwards? What needs to be done to resolve tion and formulating recommendations for further them? improvements. A great deal of attention has been The fourth issue is related to instruments and paid to the situation on the Korean peninsula, and institutes of the global governance. A noticeable gap a significant work has been done on a wide range of has appeared between norms of the international Middle Eastern issues from the Syrian peace process law and fundamental principles of the key organi- to the Iranian nuclear programme. “Selective coop- zations on the one hand and the actual policies of eration” between Russia and the European Union a number of major actors on the other. Can ‘politi- has also been an area of focus given the degree of cal realism’ and the international law be reconciled? economic and humanitarian interaction between How should international organizations and regimes the two despite their serious political differences. be used in order to resolve specific problems? The crisis in the relations with the United States has The fifth issue is political risks for the Russian prompted a search for areas of cooperation on nar- and international business. Rapid changes in the rowly defined issues, with a due account of obstacles international environment create a high degree of to a full-fledged dialogue. Following the established uncertainty for Russian companies and their foreign practice, analysing the situation in the former Soviet partners. What are the gravest risks for Russian busi- republics became another priority area. Despite the 8 RussianРоссийский International совет по международнымAffairs Council делам difficult political situation, we have managed to The RIAC staff grew significantly in 2019. A num- preserve and develop working contacts with Ukrai- ber of graduates from leading Russian universities nian experts. We have also conducted a research on joined the Council’s ranks. The recruits are trained by issues of the Eurasian economic integration, includ- the former young staffers who were in their shoes ing in dialogue with our partners in Armenia, Belarus, when RIAC was in fledgling stages of its existence. Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. This ensures a professional continuity within the The key directions of functional areas of our work Council, and the work of our staff is complemented include digital security, international migration, and by that of honored experts and other RIAC mem- university diplomacy. A great deal of attention has bers: prominent researchers, former and current been paid to the issue of economic sanctions against politicians and diplomats, and representatives of the Russia and other countries. business community, the media, and public organi- zations. Rapid changes that are taking place in the inter- We place a particular emphasis on the national environment pose new challenges for the development of RIAC website and its RIAC development. We are always looking for new electronic resources. 2019 saw an increase ways to conduct research, organize and hold events, and work with our target audiences. Nevertheless, in the number of both Russian and foreign our guiding principle remains the same: a reliance visitors to the RIAC website. A number of new on professionalism, objective and unbiased assess- contributors joined RIAC ranks, including ments, a critical understanding of research results, university students and recent graduates. and a balance between continuity and openness to RIAC has successfully developed partnerships change. with leading media outlets, partly through the Nationwide Contest for Young Foreign Affairs Journalists, partly through the publication of articles written by the Council’s staff in the leading print media, as well as appearances on television and radio programmes.. 9 2 | RIAC ACTIVITIES REGIONAL AND BILATERAL PROJECTS ANNUAL REPORT 2019 RUSSIA AND CHINA: A PARTNERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC One of the top priorities of the Russian foreign The Russia–China interaction is not driven by policy is the development of a comprehensive external factors and is not aimed against third interaction and a strategic partnership with countries, although an increasing competition China. In recent years, Moscow and Beijing have with the United States demands that the two achieved significant results in a both bilateral coordinate their positions on the international and multilateral framework. Nevertheless, new stage more closely. Both China and Russia see international challenges and national develop- the current policy of the United States as a stra- ment objectives require a further intensification tegic challenge. The unilateral measures initiated of the cooperation. by Washington against Russia and the trade war Since its inception, RIAC has dedicated a sig- between China and the United States have simul- nificant research on the topic of China and the taneously created opportunities to strengthen development of practical recommendations on the Russia–China cooperation in new areas and how to improve the Russia–China partnership. obstacles to smooth an interface between the The most important frameworks of this work are two. Thus, mechanisms of interaction should be the annual Russia and China: Cooperation in a debugged at all levels. New Era conference organized by RIAC and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and „ the Russian–Chinese Dialogue report prepared It is probably too early to talk about the future con- by the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Rus- figuration of the world order. But already today we sian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of can strongly assert that Russia and China, whose International Studies at