Students of MGIMO and KBSU at the forum «Introduction to the Russian Caucasus»

Foreign students and volunteers of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov take part in the III International Forum «Introduction to the Russian Caucasus», which is held in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic from July 21 to 24, 2022. The event, organized by the Moscow State Institute of International Relations together with KBSU, is attended by students from Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Turkey, India, Tunisia, Iran, Syria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, Georgia, Abkhazia, Belarus, Donbass.

The main tracks of the forum are the expansion and improvement of the mechanisms of international cooperation through youth and student initiatives, as well as the development of multilateral joint projects in the field of youth policy, science and education. The program of the forum includes educational, plenary and excursion parts, and the organizers deliberately decided to start with the excursion, following the Russian proverb “It is better to see once than hear a hundred times”. The participants visited the well-known in Europe Malkinsky stud farm, cultivating the Kabardian breed of horses, drank the healing waters from the springs of the Narzan Glade, tasted the Balkarian khychins with ayran on Cheget and delen with lakum in Chegem. In the boarding house «Elbrus» they enjoyed the heady aroma of a pine forest and only then began the training program.

On July 22, in the picturesque corner of Kabardino-Balkaria, the Elbrus region, as part of the business program, the participants got acquainted with the regional specifics and the role of the Caucasus in Russian federalism. The domestic political track was presented by the Deputy Director of the Social and Humanitarian Institute of the KBSU on new educational technologies, candidate of political sciences Aksana Popova, who held a seminar «The Russian Caucasus: Key Trends on the Russian Agenda».

On the international track, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Boris Ananiev organized a seminar «Russia’s foreign policy through the prism of Russian federalism.» An expert on the historical and cultural track, the scientific secretary of the National Museum of the KBR, Aksana Gukemukh, told the participants about the history of the development of the cultural traditions of the peoples of Kabardino-Balkaria and their integration into the all-Russian political and ethno-cultural space. On July 23, the “Introduction to the Russian Caucasus” forum continued in Nalchik at the site of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov.

In the meeting room of the academic council, foreign students from MGIMO and KBSU talked with the head of the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in the city of Mineralnye Vody Sergey Nyuppa, the Minister of Education of the KBR Anzor Ezaov, acting. the First Vice-Rector, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Vadim Lesev, an asset of the diplomatic class of the KBSU Nalchik Gymnasium No. 4 and representatives of the partner universities of the forum organizers. Vadim Lesev greeted the forum participants on behalf of the university administration and the staff of teachers and students:

«We absolutely support the goal of the forum — the objective formation of a positive image of the Russian Caucasus in the minds of foreigners, establishing links between future specialists in the field of diplomacy and other fields of activity, acquaintance with the history, original culture of the multinational North Caucasus. For our university, which has been actively cooperating with MGIMO since 2016, and has been teaching foreigners since the mid-60s, this is an opportunity to expand the range of international contacts, talk about the capabilities of KBSU, a university in which citizens from over 40 countries make up more than 10 percent of the students.»

The head of the representative office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation also declared full support for the project:

«A very good youth event. Students are a special environment where friendship is formed for many years and such events help to expand the circle of contacts and lay the foundations of people’s diplomacy, which in the future will help to form an objective idea of ​​the country and the peoples inhabiting it. We believe that this practice should be expanded. Youth policy is always relevant. We sometimes, perhaps, do not fully understand how good our youth is, how educated, active and patriotic they are. We are proud of our young people and will support all their best initiatives,” — Sergey Nyuppa said.

Aslan Kaskulov, an assistant to State Duma deputy Anatoly Bifov, an employee of MGIMO and Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU), spoke about the history of the creation of the forum, its ideas, goals and objectives, as well as the dynamics of the development of the project, emphasizing that not only students of two universities took part in the forum, but but also individual representatives of foreign states, which undoubtedly speaks of the natural need to develop international relations and, accordingly, the growing relevance of the forum.

«We are glad to the delegations from Iran, Belarus and the DPR, we are glad that the head of the republic reacted positively to our letter and sent delegation. We see how the participants are happy and satisfied to come to Kabardino-Balkaria, get to know each other, make friends. Russia was, is and will be a country for diplomacy, we will support youth diplomacy so that it develops», — Kaskulov said.

According to him, the goal of the project is to erase the negative image of the Russian Caucasus in the minds of foreigners and foreign students. We saw the understanding and support of a lot of guys who are interested in studying Russia, the Caucasus and who really want to make friends, communicate with their peers in the republics, in our country. Applications for participation before the start of the event were received from representatives of 35 countries, but many leaders of the countries were not given permission to come, we believe that this is a short-sighted move, all the same, young people will communicate, students will be friends and we will see this in the long term, — said Aslan Kaskulov.

The director of Gymnasium No. 4 in Nalchik, Rimma Nagoeva, shared her experience in the formation of diplomatic thinking among schoolchildren, she spoke about the work of the KBSU diplomatic class in the institution and about one of its most advanced projects — “The Caucasian model of the UN | Hearth of the World. Representatives of the Department of Political Theory of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the International Parliamentary Club at MGIMO spoke about the success in promoting intercultural international relations. In the plenary part, one representative from each country from which the forum participants come from spoke.

Each in his own aspect expressed his vision of the further development of international relations, impressions from his stay in Kabardino-Balkaria and wishes to the forum and its participants. In order to give the forum participants a lively idea of ​​the folklore creativity of the peoples of the KBR, the KBSU Student Council prepared a small concert with the participation of artists of the Amiks Song and Dance Theater, the Highlanders of the Caucasus dance studio and amateur artists of the university — participants in the competition-festival «Student Spring «. Well, in the evening the pleasant impressions of the third day of the forum were supplemented by a walking tour of the evening Nalchik.