Chronology

PIR PRESS NEWS
The article analyzes the correlation between the regions impacted by the spread of COVID-19 and the territories of genetically modified organisms crops cultivation and consumption. The authors note that the highest mortality rates from COVID-19 can be observed in countries with a high level of genetically modified foods production and consumption, while the countries where it is prohibited hold low COVID-19 mortality rates. Based on the data analyzed, a hypothesis is put forward about the correlation between the global spread of COVID-19 and GM foods, along with the production and consumption of GMO crops.
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov met with students online.
In November 2020, one of the "fathers of the Iranian nuclear program," academic physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed in Iran. In response to the incident, Iran has accelerated the adoption of a law to increase the level of uranium enrichment. In an interview with intern at PIR Center Maria Bondareva, former Iranian Permanent Representative to the IAEA and other international organizations in Vienna Ali Asghar Soltanieh spoke about the consequences of the relevant events.
Schedule and Readings
Useful websites:
* PIR Center
* Acronym Institute
* Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Nuclear Policy
* International Atomic Energy Agency
* Nuclear Threat Initiative
* The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
* Programme for Promoting Nuclear Non-Proliferation Briefing Book. Volume II: Treaties, Agreements and Other Relevant Documents (Eighth Edition). The Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, University of Southampton
Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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International Nonproliferation Regimes and Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty |
Vladimir A. Orlov Advisor, PIR Center |
September 9 (Wednesday) 17:35 – 19:05 |
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WMD Nonproliferation Regimes: Current Threats and Challenges |
September 9 (Wednesday) 19.15 – 20.45 |
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Required literature: * The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons* White Paper: "Towards Nuclear Disarmament: NPT Article VI and Implementation of the 2010 Review Conference Decisions". PIR Center, 2014.Following Up On PIR Center’s Recommendations For Strengthening The Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime: 2010 – 2015 * White Paper “NPT-2010: Strengthening the Regime”. PIR Center, 2010 Recommended literature: * Nuclear Reset: Arms Reduction and Nonproliferation / Ed. by Alexei. Arbatov and Vladimir Dvorkin; English version ed. by Natalia Bubnova. Moscow Carnegie Endowment, 2012 * Avner Cohen. Israel and the Bomb. Columbia University Press, 1998 * Gordon Corera. Shopping for Bombs. In Nuclear Proliferation, Global Insecurity, and Rise and Fall of the A.Q. Khan Network. Oxford University Press, 2006. pp. 241-251. * Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers. Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Paragon, Canberra, 2009 * Rebecca Johnson. Unfinished Business: The Negotiation of the CTBT and The End of Nuclear Testing. United Nations Publications, 2009 * Global Trends and the International Non-Proliferation Regime. In Joseph Cirincione, Jon Wolfsthal, Miriam Rajkumar (eds.) Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002. * Vladimir Orlov and Ivan Trushkin. NPT of Tomorrow. Russia in Global Affairs. October 16, 2013 * Vladimir Orlov. Russia's Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy from 1991 to 2011: Twenty Years since the Soviet Union's Collapse, still Soviet. Security Index (International Edition) No. 3 (100), Summer 2012 * William Potter, Charles Ferguson (with Amy Sands, Leonard Spector, and Fred Wehling). The Nuclear Terrorists: Who, Why, and How Capable? In The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism. Center for Nonproliferation Studies, 2004 * The Nuclear Tipping Point: Prospects for a World of Many Nuclear Weapon States in Kurt Campbell, Robert Einhorn, and Mitchell Reiss (eds.) The Nuclear Tipping Point: Why States Reconsider Their Nuclear Choices. Brookings Institution Press, 2004. pp.3-17 Web Sources: * PIR Center Project “The Future of the NPT: Shaping Russia’s Position”
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Preparing for Key Challenges to WMD Proliferation Regime in 2010s
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Vladimir A. Orlov Advisor, PIR Center |
September, 16 (Wednesday) 17:35-19:05 |
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Required literature: * Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers (Synopsis). Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Paragon, Canberra, 2009Recommended literature: * Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers. Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament. Paragon, Canberra, 2009* The Nuclear Tipping Point: Prospects for a World of Many Nuclear Weapon States in Kurt Campbell, Robert Einhorn, and Mitchell Reiss (eds.) The Nuclear Tipping Point: Why States Reconsider Their Nuclear Choices. Brookings Institution Press, 2004. pp.3-17 Web Sources: * PIR Center Project “Ways Towards Nuclear Disarmament”
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Iranian Nuclear Problem |
Vladimir A. Orlov Advisor, PIR Center |
September, 16 (Wednesday) 19:15-20:45 |
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Required literature: * Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action * Joint Plan of Action negotiated by E3+3 and Iran * Vladimir Orlov. Future of Iranian nuclear program * Ebrahim Motaghi Iranian Approaches to Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East * Vladimir Orlov. A Labyrinth with no Walls. Russia in Global Affairs. March, 25, 2013. * White Paper “Ten Steps Toward a Weapon of Mass Destruction-Free Zone in the Middle East”. PIR Center, 2013. * UN Security Council Resolution 1929. United Nations Website, 09 June 2010 * UN Security Council Resolution 1835, United Nations Website, 27 September 2008 * UN Security Council Resolution 1803, United Nations Website, 3 March 2008 Recommended literature: * Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Report by the IAEA Director General. May 23, 2014* Statement by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Hassan Rouhani at the Sixty-eight Session of the United Nations General Assembly. September 28, 2013 * PIR Center and partners. How to Reach an Agreement with Iran. Russia Confidential, Issue № 5 (197), Vol. 12. May 2013 Web Sources: * PIR Center project “Iranian Nuclear Program: Russia’s Interests”
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Modern Arms Control Challenges. Nuclear Reductions and Missile Defence |
Evgeny P. Buzhinsky Chairman of the Executive Board, PIR Center |
September, 23 (Wednesday) 17:35-19:05 19:15-20:45 |
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Required literature: * White Paper: "Towards Nuclear Disarmament: NPT Article VI and Implementation of the 2010 Review Conference Decisions". PIR Center, 2014. * Anatoly Antonov. Further Nuclear Arms Limitation: Factors and Prospects. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (103), Spring 2013 * Evgeny Buzhinsky. Does the INF Treaty Have a Future? Russia Confidential, Issue № 8 (212), August 2014 * Anatoly Antonov. Military Use of Space. Russia Confidential, Issue № 8 (188), Vol.11. August 2012 * Evgeny Buzhinsky. The Outlook for UAV Research and Development. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (103), Spring 2013 * Oleg Shakirov. Conventional Arms Control in Europe: Old Problems, New Solutions. Security Index (International Edition) No. 3 (104), Summer 2013. 13-23 pp Recommended literature: * James Acton. Low Numbers. A Practical Path to Deep Nuclear Reductions. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2011 * Anatoly Antonov, Kari Eken Wollebaek, Gennady Evstafiev, Mikhail Lysenko, Anastasiya Malygina, William Potter, Alexander Radchuk, Roland Timerbaev, Nandan Unnikrishnan. Multilateral Approaches towards Nuclear Disarmament: The Next Steps. Security Index (International Edition), No. 1 (90), Spring 2009 * Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report. U.S. Department of Defense, February 2010. * Vladimir Dvorkin, Alexei Arbatov. Missile Defense: Confrontation and Cooperation. Carnegie Endowment for International Piece. Moscow, 2013. * David Hoffman. The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy. Anchor, 2010. * Josef Goldblat. Arms Control: The New Guide to Negotiations and Agreements. Sage Publications Ltd., 2002 * The Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation. Approved by President of the Russian Federation V. Putin on 5 February, 2010 * Anatoly Antonov. Long-Range Precision-Guided Conventional Weapons: Implications for Arms Control and Strategic Stability. Speech at the joint meeting of members of the Centre russe d’etudes politiques and the Trialogue Club International. April 21, 2013. * Evgeny Buzhinsky, Anatoly Dyakov, Evgeny Ilyin, Alexander Kolbin, and others. The Future of Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Options Available. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (103), Spring 2013 * Josef Goldblat. Arms Control: The New Guide to Negotiations and Agreements. Sage Publications Ltd., 2002 * Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan. Meta-Geopolitics of Outer Space: An Analysis of Space Power, Security and Governance. Pagrave Macmillan, 2012 * Pavel Luzin. Outer Space – Field For Conflicts, Field For Interaction. Security Index (International Edition) No. 1 (86), Winter 2008/2009 * Andrei Zagorski. Conventional Arms Control in Europe: is there a Way Out of the Stalemate? Russia: Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security. IMEMO Supplement to the Russian Edition of the SIPRI Yearbook 2012. 164-174 pp.
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Lecture topic |
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Date and time |
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Nuclear Weapon States: Nuclear Programs, Military Doctrines, and Nonproliferation |
Ildar A. Akhtamzyan Associate Professor, MGIMO |
September, 30 (Wednesday) 17:35-19:05
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Recommended literature: * James Acton. Is China Changing Its Position on Nuclear Weapons? The New York Times. 18 April, 2013 * Jacques Hymens. Achieving nuclear ambitions. Scientists, politicians, and proliferation. Cambridge (MASS) University press, 2012 * Alexander Kolbin. China and Nuclear Disarmament: Is Reduction of Chinese Strategic Nuclear Weapons a Possibility? Security Index (International Edition), No. 3 (100), Summer 2012 * Richard Rhodes. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon & Schuster, 1995 * Nikolai Sokov. The New, 2010 Russian Military Doctrine: The Nuclear Angle. James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. 5 February, 2010 * Nuclear Posture Review Report. U.S. Department of Defense. April, 2010 * Bruno Tertrais. A Comparison between US, UK and French Nuclear Policies and Doctrines. Sciences Po, February 2007 Web Sources: * Country Profiles. Nuclear Threat Initiative Website
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Introduction to cyber dimensions of nonproliferation, disarmament and nuclear security |
Elena Chernenko, Head of the Foreign Desk of the Kommersant Daily. Member of the PIR Center’s Executive Board |
September, 30 (Wednesday) 19:15 – 20:45 |
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Recommended literature: * Ch. III. Security of Critical Information Infrastructure: Key Threats and Response Strategies. Ch. IV. Military and Political use of ICTs: Challenges to Global Security and International Law from the report Global Internet Governance and International Security in the Field of ICT Use (bu Oleg Demidov). PIR Press, Moscow-Geneva. 2015. P. 24-48
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones |
Ildar A. Akhtamzyan Associate Professor, MGIMO |
October, 7 (Wednesday) 17:35 – 19:05 |
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Required literature: * White Paper “Ten Steps Toward a Weapon of Mass Destruction-Free Zone in the Middle East”. PIR Center, 2013.Recommended literature: * Ildar Akhtamzyan. Nuclear-Weapon-free Zones in the Beginning of the XXI Century // Lessons to be Learned from Non-Proliferation Failures and Successes. Edited by Alexander Nikitin. IOS Press: Amsterdam, Berlin, Oxford, Tokyo, Washington D.C., 2009. 38-52 pp * African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty [Treaty of Pelindaba]. Opened for signature on 11 April 1996. * Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone [Treaty of Semipalatinsk]. Opened for signature on 8 September 2006. * South-Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone. Opened for signature on 6 August 1985. * Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone [Treaty of Bangkok]. Opened for signature on 15 December 1995. * Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America [Treaty of Tlatelolco]. Opened for signature on 14 February 1967. * The Antarctic Treaty. Opened for signature on 1 December 1959
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international organizations in the Nonproliferation Regime. IAEA Safeguards |
Alexey Ubeev, Member of the Advisory Board, PIR Center |
October, 7 (Wednesday) 19:15 – 20:45 |
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Required literature: * The Statute of the IAEA * Valery Bytchkov. IAEA Safeguards System: Conceptual Evolution. Center for Energy and Security Studies. September 6, 2013 Recommended literature: * Establishing the Nuclear Security Infrastructure for a Nuclear Power Programme. IAEA Nuclear Security Series 19, 2013 * IAEA Database on Nuclear Power Reactors * Nuclear Security Systems and Measures for the Detection of Nuclear and other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control. IAEA Nuclear Security Series, May, 2013 * Security Assurances and Nuclear Nonproliferation. Ed. By Jeffrey W. Knopf. Stanford University Press, 2012
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Lecture topic |
Lecturer |
Date and time |
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Nonproliferation and Security in South Asia |
Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Member of the Executive Board, PIR Center |
October, 14 (Wednesday) 17:35 – 19:05 |
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Nuclear Energy Development and Nuclear Security |
Alexey Ubeev, Member of the Advisory Board, PIR Center |
October, 14 (Wednesday) 19:15 – 20:45 |
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Required literature: * Viktor Murogov. Nuclear Energy: Lessons from the Past, Current Problems, and New Initiatives. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (103), Spring 2013* The Hague Communiqué 2014. The Hague Nuclear Security Summit * Grigory Berdennikov. Industry Must Contribute to Practical Nuclear Security Measures. Security Index (International Edition) 1 (106), Winter 2014 Recommended literature: * Andrey Baklitskiy. Nuclear energy in the Middle East: Russia's interests and role. Security Index (International Edition) No. 3 (104), Summer 2013 * William H. Tobey, Pavel S. Zolotarev. The Nuclear Terrorism Threat. Presentation, Meeting of the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit Sherpas, Pattaya, Thailand. January 13, 2014 * Viktor Murogov. Nuclear Technology: History, State and Technical Challenges of Nuclear Power Development. Course Lectures. NRNU (MEPHI – IATE), ISTC. Moscow, 2012 * Nikolai Ponomarev-Stepnoi. Global Nuclear Energy Architecture: a Key to Energy Security. Security Index (International Edition) No. 3 (100), Summer 2012 * Albert Zulkharneev, Viktor Murogov. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Culture: A New Resource for Russian Public Diplomacy. International Affairs, Vol. 58, No. 2, 2012 Web Sources: * PIR Center Project “Development of Russia’s Nuclear Exports”* Nuclear Power in the World Today. World Nuclear Association Website
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Test Debate «Will the World Be More Secure without Nuclear Weapons?» Course summing up |
Albert F. Zulkharneev Director, PIR Center |
October, 21 (Wednesday) 17:35 – 20:45 |
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Required literature: * George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn. A World Free of Nuclear Weapons. Wall Street Journal, January 2007 * Nuclear Tipping Point: Documentary Film. Nuclear Security Project, 2010. Recommended literature: * Dispute between Sergey Karaganov and Alexei Arbatov. Global Zero and Common Sence: Nuclear Weapons in the Modern World; Common Sense and Disarmament: The Matter and Philosophy of Nuclear Weapons; Sergei Karaganov’s Response. Russia in Global Affairs, July-October 2010 * Kurt Campbell, Robert Einhorn, Mitchell Reiss. The Nuclear Tipping Point: Why States Reconsider Their Nuclear Choices. Brookings Institution Press, 2004 * Roundtable: “Nuclear Arsenals in 25 Years”. Security Index (International Edition) No. 1 (86), Winter 2008/2009 * Alexei Obukhov. Nuclear Weapons and Christian Ethics. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (82), Fall 2007. * Alexandr Radchuk. The Great Nuclear Game of the Game of the 21st century Disarmament or War. Security Index (International Edition), No. 4 (93), Fall 2010 * George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn. Towards a Nuclear Free World. Wall Street Journal, January 2008 * Roland Timerbaev. Nuclear-Weapon-Free-World: Ways of Moving Ahead. Security Index (International Edition) No. 2 (87), Spring 2009. Web Sources: * PIR Center Project “Ways Towards Nuclear Disarmament” |