On April 30, 2019 we turned 25. For all this years PIR Center has been an independent nongovernmental organization, which carried out research, as well as educational, public awareness and publishing activities, and provided consulting services. From the time of its founding in April 1994 to this day, the priority areas of the Center’s research studies remain international security, control and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. PIR Center is in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The first project and the trademark publication of the PIR Center was the Yaderny Kontrol journal, the pilot issue of which came out in November 1994. The Russian and international establishments and expert communities have recognized Yaderny Kontrol as the source of objective analytical information on the subject of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and arms control. The understanding of the complex character of current security problems brought the existing group of authors and the editorial board to the decision to expand the scope of the journal and to release the new edition under the title Security Index. Beginning in 2007, the journal used to be published four times a year in both Russian and English. The English edition of Security Index was published by Routledge publishing house and distributed from London worldwide. In 2012 a landmark 100th issue of the Journal came out in print.
Since 1997, the PIR Center has been developing educational programs in the area of nonproliferation and international security. Under its educational projects, the Center closely interacts with the leading Russian higher education institutions: MGIMO, MEPhI, St. Petersburg, Tomsk and Novosibirsk State Universities and others. With the appointment of PIR Center president Vladimir Orlov in 2001 as a UN consultant on disarmament and nonproliferation education, the Center won international recognition in the sphere of education.
PIR Center makes intensive efforts to involve young specialists in its work. The Center staff in different times included recent graduates of the top Russian higher education institutions, such as MGIMO, Moscow State University and MEPhI.
We are grateful to all of our friends and partners for their warm wishes!
“Over the past quarter of a century, PIR Center has gained a well-deserved authority in domestic and foreign academic and public circles, has become one of the most respected research structures specializing in such currently important issues of the global agenda as nuclear non-proliferation, arms control and information security.
Thanks to the high professionalism of the staff, the expert and educational activities of the Center become more effective every year, making a significant contribution to the training of the modern generation of Russian specialists in international affairs.
I would like to mention that the studies conducted by the Center are of great practical interest, are in demand in the work of the Presidential Administration of the President of Russia, as well as of a number of Russian ministries and departments. I hope that such a useful interaction and partnership will continue in the future.
I wish the staff of the PIR Center new scientific and creative successes and all the best.”
Anton Vaino, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of the President of Russia
“It is hard to overestimate PIR Center’s contribution to expert analysis of Russian approaches to international security issues. Your organization’s cooperation with the international political and security research community, including our US colleagues, has also been invaluable. These efforts to find common ground on such issues as arms control and nonproliferation are as important as ever.
PIR Center’s research and education activities have been instrumental in bringing up the new generation of disarmament specialists. We greatly value the ongoing cooperation between your organization, the MGIMO diplomatic school, and the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy. Graduates of PIR Center’s International School on Global Security and of the PIR Center-MGIMO Joint Masters Program on Nuclear Nonproliferation, as well as other programs, have been able to put their new skills and experience to good use.
We at the Russian Foreign Ministry greatly value our constructive cooperation with PIR Center. The research papers authored by PIR Center staffers always offer a high-quality, in-depth analysis, and their practical recommendations have proved highly relevant in our daily operations. We are looking forward to working with you on your new ideas and initiatives.
I wish all the best to you personally and to the entire PIR Center team.”
Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
“Dear Gen. Buzhinsky,
Please accept my cordial greetings to you and the entire PIR Center team on the occasion of PIR Center’s 25th anniversary.
PIR Center has won itself a solid reputation as a leading nongovernmental organization in the field of global security research, education, and consulting.
Hundreds of politicians, diplomats, military servicemen and public figures from the CIS states have taken training courses, internships, and workshops, including the annual International School, organized by PIR Center.
I would like to use this occasion to emphasize the importance of cooperation between the Russian Ministry of Defense and your organization, which represents the Russian expert community. For many years you have been providing high-quality analysis in the field of nuclear nonproliferation and new challenges and threats. We value your contribution to the Moscow International Security Conference and to the development of international military cooperation.
I wish you and your team success in all your endeavors.”
Gen. Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
Staff members and School participants,
I am pleased to send closing remarks to the participants of the 19th International School on Global Security held in Zvenigorod, Russia, on 6 – 14 April 2019. In the current security environment affected by emerging technologies, we need a comprehensive understanding of challenges to disarmament, non-proliferation, cyber security, regional and global security.
I believe the PIR Center School has provided a unique opportunity for you, 25 young and outstanding professionals, politicians, diplomats, military and civil servants, journalists, scholars, faculty, and students, to build expertise, improve professional skills and contribute through knowledge to a more secure world. PIR Center has long promoted disarmament and non-proliferation education, including through the establishment of the Dual Master’s Degree Program in WMD Non-proliferation in partnership with the MGIMO University and the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
I would like to highlight the contribution of Dr. Orlov to the cause of disarmament and nonproliferation education as member of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters in 2015-2018.
The 19th International School on Global Security is special as it marks the 25th anniversary of PIR Center. My Office values the experience of its cooperation with the Center as an independent Russian think tank strongly committed to advancing in-depth understanding of nuclear issues in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and beyond the region.
Therefore, I hope that the participants of the School found this event full of fruitful discussions, constructive debates, and had opportunities to develop a shared vision that will help address the challenges to international security we face today.
Thank you.”
Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs to participants of the PIR Center International School on Global Security 2019
“Dear Vladimir Andreevich,
On behalf of the staff of the Russian Embassy in Argentina and on my own behalf, I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues on the 25th anniversary of the PIR Center, a leading Russian NGO whose experts are recognized as specialists in various fields of international security. It is important that you remain committed to the high quality of the research, strive to constantly expand the horizons of work. The organization that was created by you makes a significant contribution to our common cause of protecting the national interests of the Russian Federation.
The activities of the PIR Center are in the constant focus of attention of Argentine experts in the field of disarmament and nonproliferation of WMD. For Russian diplomats the work of your team serves as an additional informational aid in monitoring the situation in the field of global security and contributes to a better understanding of the processes taking place in various regions of the world.
I am sure that in conditions when strategic stability on our planet is meant to test, the multi-dimensional activities of your team will always be in demand. We are all united by one noble goal – to prevent a new global war, to provide a peaceful sky over our heads and future generations. Probably it is not by chance that “PIR” and “the world” (in Russian “PIR” and “mir”) sound in unison.”
Dmitry Feoktistov, Ambassador of Russia to Argentina
“Dear Vladimir,
Let me congratulate you and the PIR Center again for the important work you have been doing in the field of international security and non-proliferation over the past 25 years. Under your leadership, the PIR Center has become a leading regional and international research entity and an authoritative voice on security issues of global concern.
I very much hope that the Center’s next 100 years will be as successful as its first 25, and that the PIR Center will continue its substantive contribution to the international discussion on arms control and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, issues which are high in the agenda of the United Nations.”
Vladimir Voronkov, Head of UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, Under-Secretary-General
“Happy 25th Anniversary to the PIR Center! My very best wishes to you and your staff.”
Rose Gottemoeller, Deputy Secretary General of NATO (2016 – 2019)
“Dear Volodya,
Congratulations on the 25th anniversary of the founding of the PIR Center, during this time through your vision and leadership it has acquired international standing among the best international security policy research institutions.”
Tariq Rauf, Consultant under Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
“Dear Vladimir,
Congratulations on your 25th anniversary! I hope all goes well.”
Robert Legvold, Marshall D. Shulman Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, Director of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative
