On September 20, 2019, in Moscow, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) together with the National Research University Higher School of Economics held a presentation of RIAC’s reader Armies and Security in the Middle East and North Africa. The event was attended by representatives of leading Russian research centers, government agencies, Russian and foreign media.
The reader consists of articles that systematize information on the armies and security services of the states of the Middle East and North Africa. The authors of the materials are experts from Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), employees of the Higher School of Economics, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS IMEMO, MGIMO MFA of Russia, Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University, RAS Institute for African Studies, Russian State Humanitarian University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. The publication examines the structure of the armies and the level of their equipment, the status and prospects of the armies in the system of social institutions of the MENA states, identifies key security agencies, their functions and features, provides information on the foreign military bases and units on the territory of the region.
On September 20, 2019, in Moscow, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) together with the National Research University Higher School of Economics held a presentation of RIAC’s reader Armies and Security in the Middle East and North Africa. The event was attended by representatives of leading Russian research centers, government agencies, Russian and foreign media.
The reader consists of articles that systematize information on the armies and security services of the states of the Middle East and North Africa. The authors of the materials are experts from Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), employees of the Higher School of Economics, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS IMEMO, MGIMO MFA of Russia, Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University, RAS Institute for African Studies, Russian State Humanitarian University, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. The publication examines the structure of the armies and the level of their equipment, the status and prospects of the armies in the system of social institutions of the MENA states, identifies key security agencies, their functions and features, provides information on the foreign military bases and units on the territory of the region.
The speakers at the opening session of the presentation of the reader Armies and Security in the Middle East and North Africa included:
— Vitaly Naumkin, Academic Director, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAS Full Member, RIAC Scientific Council Member
— Andrei Baklanov, Head, Middle East and North Africa Studies Section, School of International Regional Studies, HSE
— Aidar Aganin, Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department, MFA of Russia
— Irina Zviagelskaya, Head of Section, Center for Arabic Studies Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor of the Oriental Studies Department of the MGIMO University
— Ruslan Mamedov, RIAC Middle East Project Coordinator.
Grigory Lukyanov, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Politics and Governance at the Higher School of Economics, moderated the meeting.
Experts shared their views on key trends in the security developments, discussed the issues of traditional and new security threats, social basis of army structures in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, the influence of non-regional players on the security system in the region, the role of the army and non-state actors in the political process, etc.
Other speakers included: Maria Khodynskaya-Golenischeva, Senior Advisor of the Foreign Policy Planning Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Vasily Kuznetsov, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies; Tatiana Karasova, Senior Researcher, Israel Department at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies; Vladimir Sazhin, Senior Researcher, Center for Middle East Studies, RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, Maxim Suchkov, Senior Fellow, Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems at MGIMO MFA; Sergey Serebrov, Senior Researcher at the Centre of Arabic and Islamic Studies at RAS Institute of Oriental Studies; Vladimir Bartenev, Director of Center for Security and Development at Department of World Politics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Senior Researcher, Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, RAS Institute of Oriental Studies; and Andrey Chuprygin, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, HSE.
Armies and Security in the Middle East and North Africa reader is publicly available on RIAC website.
