On May 26, 2022, Director of  PIR Center Dr Vladimir A. Orlov will take part in the first meeting of the strategic planning group of the Global Alliance of Leaders for Nuclear Security and Nuclear-Weapons-Free World, which will be held in Vienna, Austria.

The International Dual Degree M.A. Program “Global Security, Nuclear Policy and WMD Nonproliferation”, developed jointly by PIR Center, MGIMO University and Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, USA (MIIS), is still open to new applications from young experts in global security who plan, through acquiring the master’s degree, to gain professional knowledge and skills in nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, arms control, strategic stability, and the nuclear factor in international relations in general. Against the backdrop of aggravating US-Russian relations, interest in the Program does not fade away but continues to grow every year.

On May 12, the 114th Extended Summer Session of the Trialogue Club International took place. It was dedicated to the topic “Assessing the State of Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime on the Eve of the X NPT Review Conference”. This time tkeynote speaker of the Session was Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation H.E. Sergey A. Ryabkov who shared his view on why currently, even among the ongoing tensions, the nuclear nonproliferation dialogue was not only possible but necessary. 

"The main thing, of course, is constant work, and in two directions. On the one hand, you need to constantly hone the skills that you have, especially in our specialty. You should never forget that if you know a language, it will always be at a high level. It needs to be constantly refreshed. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, you need to learn something new all the time. I'm used to the fact that you need to continuously immerse yourself in new things, new topics, new activities. This applies to both research and practical work. The Arab East and the Middle East provide a very wide field of action for self-realization, there is always an opportunity to learn something new, so human life is not enough for this. You need to leave a memory of yourself in the profession. Getting new knowledge, mastering something is very interesting and gives an incentive to life, without which it becomes boring," - Vitaliy Naumkin, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

While most of the countries remain concentrated on the Ukrainian crisis, there is a possibility of another crisis at the different edge of Eurasia. The potential troublemaker is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and its nuclear missile program, which has somewhat revived in recent times.

Negotiations to return to Iranian nuclear deal in recent weeks have noticeably stalled. The main reason for this is the discrepancy between the positions of Tehran and Washington on the status of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is extremely important for Iran both from a military and economic point of view. On this background, external players interested in the restoration of the deal became more active. First of all, this concerns the monarchies of the Persian Gulf.

The military situation in Europe against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian special operation in Ukraine remains tense. On May 1, joint exercises Defender Europe and Swift Response began in Poland and eight other NATO countries. These exercises said to be last until May 26. Up to 18 thousand servicemen from the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and other countries will take part in them.

On April 28, the 113th Spring Session of the Trialogue Club International took place. It was dedicated to the topic “Hot Spring of 2022: Introduction to A New Global Insecurity”, where the Ukraine events of early 2022, its potential consequences and future situation were discussed.

The United States is now preparing equally for both a scenario where there is a mutual return to compliance with Iran on a nuclear deal, as well as one in which there is not an agreement, the State Department said.

Today is the birthday of our beloved PIR Center! We are turning 28 years old. In 1994, an independent and unparalleled institute in the field of international security was born, which today has every reason to be proud of.