For the first time in a century, a set of large, populous and increasingly wealthy states—China,
India and Russia—are on the cusp of achieving great-power status. These powers are entering an
international system still governed by a “Western” conception of order and based on the primacy
of post–World War II rules, drawn from liberal models of capitalism and democracy practiced in
the U.S. and in Western Europe. In this context, the most important and most uncertain question
facing the West over the next decade is this: What will be the relationship between the EU and
the US vis-à-vis these rising powers? Will the transatlantic relationship hold and become
stronger, faced with this new geopolitical and geo-economic challenge? Or will the US and the
EU—an increasingly prominent global player—compete for economic and political advantage?
The answers to these questions have important implications for the viability of the current
international economic and political order.
We plan to address these questions through a series of three conferences focusing on Russia,
India, and China respectively. The first conference, “Responding to the Russian Challenge,” was held at the UC Berkeley International House on Thursday, April 2, 2009.
Participants included Dr. Christopher Granville, Professor Robert Legvold (Columbia University), Dr. Alexander Pikayev (IMEMO), Professor Mikhail Rykhtik (Nizhny Novgorod State University), Professor Kathryn Stoner-Weiss (Stanford Unviersity), Professor Andrei Tsygankov (San Francisco State), and Theocharis Grigoriadis (UC Berkeley).
Working papers from the conference will be available online by the end of 2009. Please contact basc “at” berkeley.edu for more information.
Conference Schedule
8:30 am – Breakfast
8:50 am – Welcome and Introductory Remarks
Vinod K. Aggarwal, UC Berkeley
HOW RUSSIA SEES THE WORLD
9:00 am – How Russia Sees the World
Mikhail Rykhtik, Nizhny Novgorod State University
Discussant: Sarah Garding, UC Berkeley
9:50 am – How Russia Sees the World
Andrei Tsygankov, San Francisco State University
Discussant: Sener Akturk, UC Berkeley
10:40 am – Coffee Break
11:00 am – Russia and the West: Partners, Allies, or Adversaries?
Alexander Pikayev, Institute of World Economy & International Relations (IMEMO)
Discussant: Danielle Lussier, UC Berkeley
11:50 am – Break
RUSSIA IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
1:00 pm – Russia in the Global Economy
Christopher Granville, Trusted Sources
Discussant: Bart Watson, UC Berkeley
1:50 pm – Federal Governance and Economic Growth as Determinants of Aid Effectiveness: Evidence from EU Aid to Russia
Theocharis Grigoriadis, UC Berkeley
Discussant: Susanne Wengle, UC Berkeley
2:40 pm – Coffee Break
EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN RESPONSES TO RUSSIA’S RESURGENCE
3:00 pm – Reformatting the EU-Russia Pseudo-Partnership:What a Difference a Crisis Makes
Pavel Baev, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)
Discussant: Theocharis Grigoriadis, UC Berkeley
3:50 pm – Meeting the Russian Challenge in the Obama Era
Robert Legvold, Columbia University
Discussant: Gail Lapidus, Stanford University
4:40 pm – Russia and the Global Financial Crisis: The End of “Putinism”?
Kathryn Stoner-Weiss, Stanford University
Discussant: Ned Walker, UC Berkeley
5:30 pm – Closing Remarks
Vinod Aggarwal, UC Berkeley
This conference was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the EU Center of Excellence and the Institute of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, in cooperation with the Berkeley APEC Study Center.
