The Institute of Contemporary Development hosted a roundtable titled Improving Financial Literacy in Russia: How Can a National Strategy Be Developed? The event was organized by Russian National Association of Securities Market Participants (NAUFOR), the Committee for the Development of Pension Systems and Social Insurance of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and Econometric Unit VEDI.

On April 10 the Federation Council hosted a roundtable lead by Nikolai Fedorov, Chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Legislation, Judicial and Legal Issues. The theme of the roundtable was “Prospects for a New Procedure for Forming the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.”

The Institute of Contemporary Development hosted a meeting with a delegation from the Center for the National Interest, a US think tank that is allied with the Republican Party. The delegation was led by Dmitri Simes and the discussion focused on Russian-American relations following the presidential elections in Russia as well as how the situation is developing in both countries.

Participants on the American side included retired US Air Force General and former Deputy NATO Commander Charles Boyd; Stephen Rademaker, former US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation; and, Bruce Hoffman, Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service

The Institute of Contemporary Development was established four years ago in March 2008, when the newly elected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev became chairman of the think tank’s Board of Trustees. A special meeting was held at INSOR on March 20 to review the results of the organization’s efforts.

The Institute of Contemporary Development hosted a meeting with a delegation from the Center for International Public Policy Studies (CIPPS, Japan). The participants discussed issues concerning the modernization of the Russian economy.

Short presentations were made by INSOR Director for Social-Economic Development Evgeny Gontmakher and Senior Advisor Nikita Maslennikov. The CIPPS delegation included former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the directors of top Japanese companies.

INSOR Management Board Chairman Igor Yurgens and Director for International Development Sergei Kulik participated in the first conferences of the Council of Councils, a new international think tank organization created on the initiative of the Council on Foreign Relations.

For more information, see the CFR website.

The Institute of Contemporary Development held a roundtable called “No Immigrants. What Should Be Done?” The discussion focused on whether there are alternatives to immigration from abroad to help resolve the looming crisis on Russia’s labor market.

The event was organized by the Moscow Psychosocial University (MPSU), Institute of Contemporary Development and the Academic Research Center for Social-Economic Population Issues (MPSU).

Opening the discussion, INSOR Management Board Member Evgeny Gontmakher noted that the present economic situation in Russia is quite complicated. “The entire resource of the economy is in people. Thus the problems of immigration are coming to the forefront,” he emphasized.

INSOR Chairman Igor Yurgens delivered the annual John Erickson Lecture, which was organized by Edinburgh University’s Princess Dashkova Centre. In his lecture, ‘Modernisation in Russia: Things to Come, Things to Overcome’, Professor Yurgens gave an overview of Russia’s recent history, concentrating on the Medvedev presidency since 2008 and the consequences of Vladimir Putin’s probable return to the Presidency after March 2012.

Arguing that Russia’s main problems are resource dependency, corruption and the pervasive legacy of autocracy, he contended that the solution was a modernisation of the political and economic system, including the expansion of democratic procedures and citizen involvement.

The Institute of Contemporary Development hosted the roundtable Supremacy of Law and the Economy. The event was organized by the Center for Legal and Economic Studies.

A new legal reality is developing in Russia: the legal system can no longer exist or develop apart from the economy, and vice versa. The aim of the roundtable was to examine the phenomenon of the supremacy of law as a factor which has a substantial influence on society’s evolutionary development, including such issues as:

1. Realization of the principles of a legal state: subordination of the state to law; formal equality before the law for all, regardless of proximity to power; supremacy of law as a method for forming a socially and economically effective model of society. 

The Institute of Contemporary Development has published a report titled The Global Economy at the Crossroads. The report presents experts' views on what is in store for the world and Russia as the global economy strives to emerge from its structural crisis.

An excerpt in English can be found here:

http://insor-russia.ru/files/The_Global_Economy_at_the_Crossroads.pdf 

The full report in Russian can be found here:

http://www.insor-russia.ru/files/Global_Econom.pdf