Call for applications to join the Second Foreign Policy Meetings in memory of Vitaly Churkin

Name of the Event: Call for applications to join the Second Foreign Policy Meetings in memory of Vitaly Churkin

Location: Moscow, Russia

Date: 20-23 February 2024

Working language: English

Last Date of  Applications: 21 January 2024 г.

Applications Link: 

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The Fund announces a competition for participation in the 2nd Youth Forum aimed at preserving the memory of an outstanding diplomat of our time Vitaly Ivanovich Churkin (1952-2017) and training experts in international relations, who would be capable to stand their ground in a wise but steadfast way.

As Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN and its Security Council (2006-2017), Vitaly Churkin always uncompromisingly promoted the interests of his native country on the world stage and was not afraid to debate with his foreign counterparts on the most complex and sensitive issues.

The key topics of discussion at the second youth forum will be prevention of an arms race and nuclear non-proliferation, international information and space security, ways out of the crisis in relations between Russia and the West, and maintaining stability in the Balkans.

Delegates of the event will attend lectures and round tables which are expected to be addressed by major statesmen and community activists, leading scholars in the field of international relations, renowned political scientists, historians, and journalists.

As part of the first youth forum, the participants were met with:

• Irina Churkina, widow of Vitaly Churkin;

• Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

• Alexander Yakovenko, PhD in Law, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

• Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher School of Economics;

• Sergey Markedonov, PhD in History, Leading Researcher at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies;

• Anton Khlopkov, Director of the Center for Energy and Security, Member of the Scientific Council of the Russian Security Council;

• Elena Guskova, PhD in History, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences;

• Mara Morini, PhD, Professor at the Department of Political Science and Comparative Politics, University of Genoa, etc.

Eligibility

Representatives of Russian regions, post-Soviet states, countries of Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, as well as other interested parties are welcomed to take part in the programme. We are waiting for:

• researchers in the field of international relations, political scientists, economists, lawyers, and historians;

• undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from relevant universities;

• international journalists;

• representatives of community-based organisations dealing with international cooperation and public diplomacy;

• young diplomats and representatives of government agencies.

Age of participants: from 18 to 30 years old. 

Instructions to participate

1. Fill in the form.

2. Submit an essay/analysis of up to 5,000 characters with spaces on one of the following topics:

• The future of the UN: will the organisation be able to represent the interests of all regions of the planet;

• Economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool;

• Approaches of the world’s countries to information security;

• Russia-West: ways to overcome accumulated disagreements;

• Militarisation of space and its consequences;

• Exacerbation of ethnic conflicts and ways to de-escalate them.

3. Attach a letter of motivation (up to 4,000 characters with spaces).

Terms of participation

• The Fund covers all the costs of accommodation in double rooms, meals and travel in Moscow as part of the programme, as well as provides visa-related support;

• Costs of travel to Moscow (air or train tickets), the visa fee (if no humanitarian visa is available), travel from/to airport (railway station), and a PCR test (if required) are borne by a participant.

The authors of the top three essays will be paid for their travel to Moscow and back.