About the event
On 9 October 2018 the Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russia Federantion jointly organized an expert workshop in Bucharest on “Back to Diplomacy.
In Search of a Normalcy Paradigm in Bilateral Relations in between Romania and Russia Federation”.
Here are few of the takeaways from the workshop
For much of the post-cold War period Romania has had limited agenda setting power in its foreign and security policy as ‘to do’ lists would constantly flow from various big capitals in Europe and in Washington. Thus, being creative in conducting both policies would be a useless enterprise. During this period countries like Romania would look almost exclusively unidirectionally to powerful ones to attune their foreign and security policy. However, currently with the rise of a multi-polar world order, these states need to embrace a wider approach in order to capture the entire international dynamics.
The excessive overdependence on the diplomacy of the leading chancelleries in Europe and in the US has created the perverse effect of ‘the complex of double periphery’ that Romania has been dragged into (and thus it faces the risks to become trapped in).
The lack of political vision and consensus to allocate appropriate diplomatic and material resources towards the emerging macro-continent Eurasia has already jeopardized Romania’s place and role in international politics. Moreover, it risks
With a pragmatic understanding of international relations that have been always built on a complex mix of some sort of integration and constantly recalibrated given the structure of the international systems per se, any political establishment need to cautiously and creatively become more engaged in diplomatic relations far from being an exclusive and narrow Eurocentric/Western centric one.
Romania needs to recognize dramatic geopolitical and geoeconomic shifts both in Europe and on the Eurasia continents and translate that in a better foreign policy and calibrate diplomatic efforts as much.
While Romania membership to NATO and the EU cannot be questioned, both Romania and Russia have a clear interest in the security and social, economic and political stability in their common neighborhoods.
Therefore, both countries need to proactively engage in more dynamic bilateral relations via public, cultural and scientific diplomacy in order to address prejudices, stereotypes and selective history, maximizing economic opportunities in respect to a rich cultural heritage.
It is part of this drive that both parties agreed to create the “Russian-Romanian Commission on Public Diplomacy and Scientific and Cultural Dialogue”, whose activities would contribute to the development of fruitful cooperation in the fields of science and education, culture and art, media, business relations, tourism and law- according to the Article 10 of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
BILATERAL WORKSHOP“Back to Diplomacy. In Search of a Normalcy Paradigm in Bilateral Relations in between Romania and Russia Federation”
Workshop facilitators: Florin Pasatoiu, PhD. Director Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies Romania Natalia Maslakova-Clauberg, PhD. Director Center for Public Diplomacy and World Cultures Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry Liviu Muresan, PhD. Director EURISC Foundation Romania Cristian Nitoiu, PhD. Deputy Director, Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance – United Kingdom
Natalia Maslakova- Clauberg
Dr. Natalia Maslakova-Clauberg is co-founder of InterKulturForum GmbH, political scientist, diplomat, and historian. She studied at the Moscow Linguistic University, the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna/Austria, the Russian Presidential Academy for Economy and Public Administration, the European College in Bruge/Belgium, and the Orthodox Humanitarian University of St. Tichon/Russia. Her qualifications include the Doctor of Philosophy (political science) from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry (1997), a diploma in German philology (1995), a diploma in international relationships (1997), a diploma in management of government projects (2000), and a diploma in theology (2013). Since 2012 Dr. Maslakova-Clauberg is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow, where she leads the center of public diplomacy and world cultures. Before, she was a diplomat and member of the Russian diplomatic mission at the UNESCO in Paris/France (2007-2012), cultural attaché of the Russian embassy in Vienna/Austria (2001-2004), and cultural attaché of the Russian embassy in Bonn and Berlin/Germany (1997-2001). Since 2017 Dr. Maslakova-Clauberg is head of the “International Diplomatic Forum”, a humanitarian project in the range of public Diplomacy.
Liviu Muresan,
President, EURISC
Liviu Muresan, PhD, Professor, founder and the Executive President of the EURISC Foundation – European Institute for Risk, Security and Communication Management (1995). He graduated courses of the Defence College NATO GFO (Rome), of the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Defense Nationale (Paris), of the Center for Civil-Military Relations (Monterey). He held several positions in the governmental structures: Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister, Senior Adviser to the Romanian Government, Senior Adviser to the Interior Minister, High Representative of the Romanian Government of the Anti-Corruption Initiative of the Pact of Stability (SPAI) and of the Combating Organized Crime Initiative (SPOC). He was Director of the Romanian Agency for setting up the regional SECI Center for Combating Transborder Organized Crime, and as the Deputy Director of the National Defence College he was the first civilian appointed in command position in the Romanian Army (1993-1994). He is Executive President of the Euro-Atlantic Council Romania – Casa NATO, EURODEFENCE Romania and Association des Anciens Auditeurs de l’IHEDN (Paris). Since 2007, he is member of European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF), contributing to the development of a “Joint Security Research Agenda” (European Commission). He received the National Order “Star of Romania” – Class Officer (2000).
Cristian Nitoiu
Vice – President
Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies
Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, and an Associate fellow at LSE IDEAS. Before coming to Aston he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in EU-Russia relations and Ukraine at LSE IDEAS and he held research positions at Trinity College Dublin and the College of Europe (Natolin campus, ENP Chair). He is an expert on EU and Russian foreign policy, EU-Russia relations, Eastern Europe, international relations, the European public sphere or international political communication. He is currently working on a book on EU-Russia relations during Putin’s third term, one on the role of the ideal self in world politics and a project on the European Parliament’s approach towards the post-Soviet space and Russia.
Florin Pasatoiu,
President and Executive Director
Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies
Lecturer in International Relations, president and director of the Center for Foreign Policy and Security Studies. Florin Pasatoiu was awarded five fellowship schemes: with MGIMO, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs- Russian Federation (in Moscow, September-November 2014), with Salzburg Global Seminar (in Salzburg, May 2014), with the German Marshall Fund of the United States of America (in the United States of America, February – March 2008), with the European Foundation Centre, International Fellowship Programme for Learning and Exchange in Philanthropy (IFP) (at ALDA- in Italy and Council of Europe- Strasbourg, in 2007) and with the Mission of Romania to the European Union (in Brussels, in 2003). Florin Pasatoiu has been involved in the “Whither Liberal World Order? Challenges from Russia, Eurasia, and Beyond” working group hosted by University of Kent, Canterbury (UK) in the framework of the H2020 UPTAKE project, which brings together scholars from the Universities of Kent, Uppsala University (Sweden) and Tartu (Finland).
Comment here