The European Dialogue expert group presented its new project: series of open interviews “From the European Point of View: Who is the bearer of European values in the present-day world?” The announcement was made at the autumn kick-off ceremony in Blagosfera centre within the presence of non-profit organisations, governmental officials, and mass media. The string of reflections by the members of the European Dialogue group upon the eternal question “Does Russia belong in Europe” will start with an interview with Markus Ederer, EU Ambassador to Russia. The interview will take place on the 24th of September and Eugene Gontmakher, the Ambassador’s companion, invites everyone to take part in the conversation.
In June 18-19, 2018 “European Dialogue” expert group and Konrad Adenauer Foundation organised a joint conference themed “Is Russia a European Country?”, where experts discussed civilisational options available to Russia and values of its people.
Mikhail Komin, political analyst, refers to the recent discussion of a interrelation between the shape of parliamentary halls and features of political systems. This discussion took place under “Architecture and Freedom” project, which was carried out by Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Goethe Institution in Moscow, and Moscow School of Architecture
Yale University held a large international conference «Regime Evolution, Institutional Change, and Social Transformation in Russia: Lessons for Political Science», which was attended by forty leading experts and researches from the USA, Canada, the UK, Russia, and Ukraine, including Lucan Way (University of Toronto), Henry Hale (GWU, USA), Sam Greene (Kings College, London), Steve Hanson (William and Mary, USA), Tim Frye (Columbia University, New York), Tom Gram (Yale), Celeste Wallander (U.S.-Russia Foundation), Peter Rutland (Wesleyan, USA). From the Russian side the conference was attended by Vladimir Gelman, Olga Malinova, Andrey Melvil, Vyacheslav Morozov, Oleg Harhordin, Boris Kapustin, who is currently a professor in Yale, and a member of the “European Dialogue” group Nickolay Petrov
How does Putin’s system function in Russia, how does it influence Europe and what can Europe do about it? The theme of the Center for Liberal Modernity’s first major conference last Tuesday in Berlin was not chosen by accident: The Center was set up in November as a think tank directed against growing populist and anti-liberal tendencies in Europe, a trend that many have linked to Russia, where President Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fourth term on Sunday.
