MOSCOW. MARCH 5, 2024. PIR PRESS. «The PIR Center online course does a great job of explaining different angles of the topic, including its scientific side. The material is very rich and educational. The instructors are all very knowledgeable and experts at what they teach», — Ms. Christelle Barakat, Junior Researcher, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.
Since 2023, the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness has been observed on March 5. On December 7, 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution 77/51. This initiative was put forward by the Kyrgyz Republic in 2021. The UN Member States chose this date for a reason: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) entered into force on March 5, 1970.
On March 5, 2024, PIR Center is pleased to announce that the English-language online course on nuclear nonproliferation and arms control, which took place in the period from November to December 2023 on the PIR Center`s research and education platform NONPROLIFERATION.WORLD in e-learning mode, has been made publicly available. The online course was prepared as part of the PIR Center’s educational project Global Security: A View from Russia for the Youth Around the World*, which has been implemented since 2023 with the support of the Presidential Grants Foundation. The online course within the project was also conducted with the support of MGIMO University, PIR Center’s strategic partner.
The online course is intended for a wide foreign English-speaking audience of diplomats and government officials, journalists, employees of research centers and institutes, instructors and students, functionaries of public organizations dealing with international cooperation and public diplomacy, as well as all those who are simply interested in this issue or who live by the principle of life-long learning. It will also be of interest to Russian specialists who would like to improve their specialized categorical and conceptual apparatus in English.
The online course is a set of 19 studio video lectures with a total duration of 16 hours. Each lecture is divided into mini-videos dedicated to certain aspects of the topic under consideration (71 mini-videos in total). For a deeper immersion of participants in nuclear nonproliferation and arms control issues, expanded lists of literature, sources, and video materials in Russian and English have been prepared and are available at any time. Intermediate tests, as well as final test are available to check the level of knowledge of participants.
The online course includes five key units.
The introductory unit is dedicated to the theory of international regimes. In his video lecture, Dr. Igor Istomin, Head of the Department of Applied International Political Analysis at MGIMO University, member of PIR Center Advisory Board, discusses the general provisions of the theory of international regimes, their nature, formation and disintegration, as well as advantages. He also shares his views on the uniqueness of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control regimes from the standpoint of international relations theory.
The first unit focuses on the historical aspects of the development of the nuclear nonproliferation regime, the provisions of the NPT, the NPT review process (considering through the example of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference and the 2022 10th NPT Review Conference). Special attention is also paid to the review of current challenges and threats in all three pillars of the NPT: nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The instructors are Ms. Elena Karnaukhova, PIR Center Deputy Director – Education and Training Program Director, Executive Secretary of the online course, and Dr. Vladimir Orlov, PIR Center Founding Director, Professor at MGIMO University, Academic Advisor of the online course.
The second unit of the online course examines in more details the most pressing issues in the field of nuclear nonproliferation. Among them: the difficulties of the establishment of the Middle East WMDFZ, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the DPRK nuclear program and the issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as factors and current trends that could lead to a new wave of nuclear proliferation. In this section you can find lectures by Ms. Daria Pakhomova, PhD Candidate, member of PIR Alumni Community; Mr. Adlan Margoev, Research Fellow at the Center for Middle East and African Studies of the Institute of International Studies of MGIMO University, member of PIR Alumni Community; Mr. Sergey Semenov, PIR Center Research Fellow, member of PIR Alumni Community; Dr. Alexander Vorontsov, Head of Department for Korean and Mongolian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of PIR Center Advisory Board.
The third unit contains video lectures on arms control and nuclear disarmament. Here you can learn about historical aspects of the nuclear arms control regime, the technological and geopolitical factors of its current disintegration; the phenomenon of nuclear deterrence and the nature of the fear of nuclear weapons; the problem of the resumption of nuclear testing; the link between cybersecurity and strategic stability (on the example of Russian-American relations); aspects of multilateral nuclear disarmament and verification issues. Among the instructors are Dr. Elena Chernenko, special correspondent of the Kommersant Daily, member of PIR Center Executive Board; Dr. Andrey Malov, former Russian diplomat, member of PIR Center Advisory Board; Mr. Dmitry Stefanovich, Research Fellow at the Section of Military Economy and Innovations of the Center for International Security of IMEMO RAS, member of PIR Center Advisory Board; Dr. Dmitry Trenin, Lead Researcher at the Section for Non-Proliferation and Arms Limitation of the Center for International Security of IMEMO RAS, Research Professor at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University, member of PIR Center Executive Board.
The fourth unit of the online course is dedicated to the peaceful use of atomic energy. Participants can get acquainted with the current state and prospects of international cooperation in the sphere of peaceful atom, Russia’s approaches, the basics of IAEA activities and functioning, the specifics of nuclear safety and nuclear security, features of the international uranium market and its players. The instructors of this unit are Mr. Gleb Efremov, General Director of the International Uranium Enrichment Centre, member of PIR Center Advisory Board; Dr. Mikhail Lysenko, Deputy Director of the International Law Department of MGIMO University, member of PIR Center Advisory Board; Dr. Alexey Ubeev, former Russian diplomat, former Senior Nuclear Security Officer at IAEA (2011-2015), member of PIR Center Advisory Board.
In fall 2023, more than 150 people applied to participate in the online course. Among them: diplomats and representatives of state structures, journalists, employees of research centers and institutes, professors and students, functionaries of public organizations from Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Croatia, Equatorial Guinea, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Moldova, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Turkey, USA, Uzbekistan, etc. The online course was held in a closed format from November to December 2023. All materials are now available in an open format on the NONPROLIFERATION.WORLD platform via the link. Anyone can get acquainted with them at a convenient time.
The PIR Center’s educational project Global Security: A View from Russia for the Youth Around the World aims to shape a common intellectual space through sharing knowledge on nuclear nonproliferation and arms control among Russian and foreign audiences. The project also seeks to contribute to the professional growth of those interested in the topics above through preliminary and advanced training for young specialists via online learning and other awareness-raising, analytical, and research tools and products.
In frames of the planning the project Global Security: A View from Russia for the Youth Around the World, PIR Center gained informational support from our colleagues, friends, and partners, specifically:
Lieutenant General (retired) Evgeny Buzhinskiy, Chairman of PIR Center Executive Board, Co-Chair of the Trialogue Club International;
Dr. Elena Chernenko, special correspondent of the Kommersant Daily, member of PIR Center Executive Board, Co-Chair of the Trialogue Club International;
Dr. Vera Gavrilova, Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations and Regional Studies at Novosibirsk State Technical University;
Mr. Viktor Litovkin, military observer of TASS;
Dr. Ekaterina Mikhailenko, Associate Professor at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at Ural Federal University;
Dr. Dmitry Polikanov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo;
Dr. Vladimir Rudakov, Editor-in-Chief of the Istorik (Historian) Journal, member of PIR Center Advisory Board;
H.E. Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation;
Ms. Lubov Soldatkina, Head of the ANO Art-Formula, member of the Committee of the Russian State Council on Culture, member of PIR Center Executive Board;
Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Lead Researcher at the Section for Non-Proliferation and Arms Limitation of the Center for International Security of IMEMO RAS, Research Professor at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University, member of PIR Center Executive Board;
Ms. Yulia Tseshkovskaya, member of PIR Alumni Community.
If you have any questions about the online course on nuclear nonproliferation and arms control or the project “Global Security: A View from Russia for the Youth Around the World”, please contact Ms. Elena Karnaukhova, PIR Center Deputy Director – Education and Training Program Director, via email edu@pircenter.org.
Keywords: Education; Nuclear Nonproliferation; Arms Control
