MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Yesterday, the Global University Summit opened in Moscow. The Forum was organized by leading universities of the Russian capital city: Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) and Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISIS). It was co-sponsored by the Foreign Ministry and Education Ministry of the Russian Federation. WTC Moscow provided the technical support for the summit. Vladimir Salamatov, General Director of WTC Moscow took part in a plenary session entitled “Global Issues of Our Times: The Russian Outlook.”

In his statement, Vladimir Salamatov remarked that amidst rapid globalization, international trade has quickly become an important indicator of international relations. "If stable economic and trade ties exist between nations, it’s perfectly obvious then that peace in that territory is stable as well,” he explained. According to the General Director of WTC Moscow, Russia’s accession to the WTO has made colossal impact on the global economy. However to reinforce its positions in that multilateral trading system, the Russian Federation must create the required conditions for development of integration processes, improvement of the investment climate in the country and do its best to boost competition. 

Konstantin Kosachev, head of Rossotrudnichestvo moderated the plenary session. Among speakers were Nikolai Evgraschenkov, an advisor to the director of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN); Ilya Rogachev, Director of the Department on New Challenges and Threats of Russia’s Foreign Ministry; and Gennady Onischenko, an aide to the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. In his address, Mr. Onischenko stated that, “Whether we like it or not, huimanity has entered a new era, the era of synthetic biology. It’s design and creation of new artificial life systems with pre- programmed attributes. This mean that even after complete extermination of deadly viruses, scientists can choose to can revive them and also create new diseases.”

Mr. Evgraschenkov devoted his address to one issue that his department deals with, illegal drug trade in Russia and worldwide. According to him, growing drug consumption causes colossal damage to psychic and physiological health, as well as social health of modern society globally. "All of us need to realize that illegal drug circulation is a complicated and complex issue, which consists of many elements. Its important aspect is drug use for nonmedical reasons. It’s a grave disease for which no effective cure has been found so far. According to expert estimates of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), nearly 5% of the world’s adult population, or about 230 million people, are drug users. 27 million of them are seriously ill", said the advisor to the director of FSKN.

The speech of the director of the Foreign Ministry’s Department on New Challenges and Threats sounded like a summary of the entire plenary session. It touched upon all kinds of external and internal threats that Russia faces in the 21st century, and besides political and economic threats, there are those caused by nature and climate. Mr. Rogachev made special emphasis on the informational security doctrine and the issue of cyber-terrorism, which very well may grow into a full-scale global network war. "In the cyber environment, it’s impossible to know sometimes who’s acting. It’s simply sufficient to disguise activities of a large organization as actions of a single hacker. And, consequently, vice versa. In the experts’ opinion, we can see in our times an organized massive attack which can lead to grave economic consequences, and still be disguised like actions of a lone hacker", he stressed.

After the plenary session was over, the attendees had an opportunity to ask speakers a few questions, and the students and reporters who were present in the room seized this chance to have a Q&A session. A lively and constructive discussion took place between the key speakers and the audience. The discussion was no less interesting than the presentations made by the speakers.

Global university summits were started in 2008. They take place every year in the world’s leading universities, just before summits of the G-8. The 2014 Moscow forum was the first to go beyond the traditional format. It had an independent status, and it brought together representatives of many countries. This year, the Summit was organized on four university platforms at once, MGIMO, MSU, RUDN and MISIS.

For more information on this article, please contact Yulia S. Ivanova, WTC Moscow, at YSIvanova@wtcmoscow.ru.