New Year — new format. St Petersburg University hosts a business breakfast with Karin Kneissl
The Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (GORKI Centre) at St Petersburg University has hosted the first business breakfast with Karin Kneissl. It is a new format event proposed by Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The idea behind these meetings is to bring together subject matter experts from among the University’s staff and students to discuss current political and economic issues in order to develop concise expert recommendations for decision-making institutions.
The first meeting "New Year, New Opportunities. Russia — Chair of BRICS in the Year of the Dragon" was attended by Professor Konstantin Khudoley, First Dean of the School of International Relations of St Petersburg University; Viktor Titov, Senior Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics of St Petersburg University; Alexey Rodionov, Senior Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St Petersburg University; and other academics of the University and the University’s students.
During the business breakfast, the participants discussed current issues of modern geopolitics. One of the main topics of discussion was the transformation of BRICS from a forum for meetings and free cooperation into a full-fledged international organisation with its own charter. Its optimal quantitative composition was also discussed.
During the discussion, the participants exchanged views on the perception of the new Arab members of BRICS, taking into account the fact that Russia played a key role in their accession. The experts then proposed practical steps to capitalise on this new dynamic to deepen academic cooperation between Russia and universities in North Africa and West Asia.
Additionally, the meeting touched upon the issues of stagflation and its risks for the European Union, as well as geopolitical modelling in today’s uncertain times.
At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed ideas and proposals that can be considered by federal authorities, heads of Russian companies and foreign partner universities. It was decided to hold such business breakfasts on a regular basis. The next meeting is expected to be held in February 2024. Interested staff and students of the University can inform the GORKI Centre in advance about their wish to participate in the event by sending an application by e-mail to: gorki@spbu.ru.