On July 15, 2020, RIAC jointly with the Italian Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI) hosted an online seminar «Caught in Between Regional Instability and Global Recession: North Africa in the Post-pandemic Era». The seminar was held within the framework of the RIAC project «Russia and Italy: Mediterranean Dialogues».
Paolo Magri, Executive Vice President and Director of ISPI, made a welcoming speech at the opening of the seminar, emphasizing that ISPI highly appreciates the cooperation with the RIAC in holding «regional seminars» to discuss pressing problems of the Mediterranean region. The RIAC is included in the ISPI «regional seminars» program for the preparation of the annual international summit conference MED Mediterranean Dialogues, which has been held in Rome since 2004.
On July 15, 2020, RIAC jointly with the Italian Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI) hosted an online seminar «Caught in Between Regional Instability and Global Recession: North Africa in the Post-pandemic Era». The seminar was held within the framework of the RIAC project «Russia and Italy: Mediterranean Dialogues».
Paolo Magri, Executive Vice President and Director of ISPI, made a welcoming speech at the opening of the seminar, emphasizing that ISPI highly appreciates the cooperation with the RIAC in holding «regional seminars» to discuss pressing problems of the Mediterranean region. The RIAC is included in the ISPI «regional seminars» program for the preparation of the annual international summit conference MED Mediterranean Dialogues, which has been held in Rome since 2004.
Director General of the RIAC Andrey Kortunov noted in his welcoming speech that the seminar will discuss the social, political and economic problems faced by the countries of the region in the context of a pandemic and will analyze the long-term consequences of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and politics of these countries. Besides, it is planned to touch upon the issues of the collapse in oil prices and the role of neighboring countries in the process of stabilizing the oil economies of North Africa.
RIAC invited leading Russian experts in the region to participate in the seminar: Andrey Chuprygin, Higher School of Economics; Alexandr Shumilin, Institute of Europe RAS; RIAC Member Vasily Kuznetsov, Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS; Natalia Zaiser, African Business Initiative Union; Victor Katona, MOL Group; Grigory Lukyanov, Higher School of Economics; Ivan Bocharov, Referent at the RIAC; Ruslan Mamedov, RIAC Program Manager; Tatiana Bogdasarova, RIAC Program Manager.
On the part of ISPI, European and Italian experts participated in the seminar: Wolfram Lacher, German Institute for International Relations and Security; Adel Hamaizia, Chatham House, UK; Lucia Ardovini, Swedish Institute of International Affairs; Chiara Lovotti, ISPI; Anas El Gomati, Sadeq Institute, Libya; Francesco Saverio Leopardi, Ca' Foscari University of Venice; Allesia Melcangi, Sapienza University of Rome, etc.
The workshop was attended by 38 experts from both sides.
After the presentation of the latest statistics on the spread of coronavirus in the region, the socio-economic and foreign policy problems of the leading countries of the region of Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and the role of regional and international actors in reducing tensions and restoring stability in the region were discussed.
RIAC continues to implement the project. Another seminar is planned for the end of the year.
