Addressing rising tensions between East and West, the Core Group Meeting of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has heard from Professor Elena Korosteleva, an expert on international governance and resilience.
She told the meeting that the academic perspective is essential to overcoming some protracted political conflicts and to seeing a wider picture in search of solutions.
Organised in partnership with the Government of Belarus, the meeting is an exclusive gathering of heads of states and governments, prominent ministers and top-level international officials, of no more than 70 participants.
It was an unusual step for an academic to be invited to share expertise at the meeting, which normally involves off-the-record political discussions and diplomacy. As noted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Belarus, Vladimir Makei, ‘the Minsk forum succeeded in bringing together parties that would not normally sit at the same table’. This involved officials from Russia and Ukraine; Serbia and Kosovo; Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Professor Korosteleva, of the University’s School of Politics and International Relations (POLIR) leads the Global Challenges COMPASS research project and is Jean Monnet Chair in European Politics. She shared her expertise on the emerging regional orders in wider Eurasia and the need for more a nuanced understanding of their cooperative potential to avoid future conflicts and to empower smaller states.
She said: ’Ambassador Ischinger, the MSC chairman, has noted that there is no such thing as unresolvable conflict. It is therefore important to use all measures to encourage dialogue and trust-building, in dealing with transnational security threats, illegal migration and regional conflicts. COMPASS project offers a neutral academic platform, and exchange of expertise to do just that’.