Clashing Visions: Russian Foreign Policy in the Age of Xi and Trump

2017 Academic Conference, University of Oxford

On May 25-26, St. Antony’s College will host the “Clashing Visions: Russian Foreign Policy in the Age of Xi and Trump” conference in the Nissan Lecture theatre. The conference will provide a thought-provoking examination of three critical dimensions of Russian foreign policy: the Russia-West relationship, Russia’s relations with the near abroad, and the Russia-China strategic partnership. These dimensions will be explored in tandem with other related issues like the Russia-China competition for influence in Central Asia, maritime security, and the domestic drivers of Russian foreign policy decision-making.

On the first day, these topics will be explored in six panels, featuring leading British and international academics. On the second day, graduate students from the University of Oxford, other British universities, and University Consortium-affiliated institutions will have an opportunity to present their own research on the changing dynamics of Russian foreign policy.

    

About

The “Clashing Visions: Russian Foreign Policy in the Age of Xi and Trump” conference brings together scholars, specialists, and graduate students in the subfields of area studies, comparative politics, international relations, economics and related disciplines to examine the changing dynamics of Russian’s foreign policy within the framework of an assertive China and the Trump administration’s uncertain foreign policy trajectory.

The conference’s overarching goal is to enhance the academic community’s understanding of a broad range of contemporary issues pertaining to Russia’s relationships with United States, Europe, China, and the post-Soviet space. The conference’s panels will place the changing dynamics of these relationships within the broader context of trends in the shifting international order. Such a broad goal can only be achieved with a comparative approach. This approach needs to consider varying institutional arrangements and constraints that exist within different states and regions,  and must take into account cultural and normative differences.

Conference Themes

The “Clashing Visions” conference will analyze Russia’s place in the shifting international order from both the transnational and domestic levels of analysis. The conference will juxtapose Russia’s regional integration projects, like the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) against Western institutions like the European Union (EU) and NATO; and the Chinese-led One Belt One Road.

It will also examine the shared internal challenges that these regional institutions seek to confront, like transnational crime, terrorism and migration, and analyze how state and non-state actors have sharpened divergences in national visions over time. By exploring distinctions and points of synergy between Russian, Chinese and Western visions of the international order, this conference will act as a forum for cross-cultural dialogue and further the University Consortium’s mission of strengthening transatlantic cooperation.

Engagement with the University Consortium 

This conference is partially funded by the University Consortium, a Carnegie Endowment affiliated organization, which seeks to foster Russia-West cooperation and encourage dialogue between six U.S., Russian and European academic institutions. In accordance with the University Consortium’s mission, our conference will highlight major topics relating to transatlantic security, the sources of the current conflict between the Russian and Western conceptions of the international order, and explore avenues for the future mitigation of these tensions. In addition to advancing the overarching themes of the consortium through presentations by academics, this conference will engage University Consortium fellows to participate via a Webinar on the May 5 afternoon.

Funding and sponsorship

The conference is funded by the  St. Antony’s College Antonian Fund, Russian & Eastern European Studies at the University of Oxford, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York under the auspices of the University Consortium.

    

Conference Programme

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Clashing Visions:  Russian Foreign Policy in the Age of Xi & Trump
St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
25-26 May 2017

Thursday May 25th 

9:00 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION & COFFEE
9:30 OPENING REMARKS
9:40  KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Professor Richard SakwaUniversity of Kent
10:30 CONTRASTING CONCEPTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER
Ian BondCentre for European Reform, “One lens or two: Do Russia and China see the world in the same way?”
Professor Rosemary FootUniversity of Oxford, “Official Chinese Visions of Global Order: How “Alternative” Are They?”
Professor Neil MacFarlaneUniversity of Oxford, “Russian Perspectives on International Order”
Chair: Professor Roy AllisonUniversity of Oxford 
11:30 COFFEE BREAK
12:00 A NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP? SINO-RUSSIAN RELATIONS UNDER XI & PUTIN
Dr. James HendersonOxford Energy Institute, “Energy relations between Russia and China – it’s a buyer’s market”
Dr. Natasha KuhrtKing’s College London, “China’s place in Russia’s Asian ‘pivot’”
Dr. David LewisUniversity of Exeter, “Russia, China & ‘Greater Eurasia’”
Chair: Professor Rosemary FootUniversity of Oxford
13:00 LUNCH BREAK
14:15 GEOPOLITICAL REALITIES IN CENTRAL ASIA
Professor Roy AllisonUniversity of Oxford, “The Eurasian Economic Union & the Central Asian States: Geopolitical & Economic Interests”
Dr. Alisher IlkhamovSOAS, “Perspectives of Central Asian Integration: 3+2 or 1+5-2?”
Dr. Anna MatveevaKing’s College London, “Russia and Central Asia: What is Really Changing?”
Chair: Professor Neil MacFarlaneUniversity of Oxford
15:15 COFFEE BREAK
15:45 DOMESTIC DRIVERS OF FOREIGN POLICY
Professor Paul ChaistyUniversity of Oxford, “The International Dimension of Nationalism in Russian Public Opinion during the Putin Era”
Dr. Peter DuncanUCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies, “Domestic Drivers of Russia’s Integrationist Policies in Post-Soviet Space”
Dr. Alexander KupatadzeKing’s College London, “Post-Soviet Eurasia: Variation in Political Corruption & Organised Crime”
Chair: Samuel RamaniUniversity of Oxford
16:45 THE FUTURE OF TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION
Professor Christopher Davis, University of Oxford, “Russia’s Changing Economic and Military Relations with Europe and Asia: 2000-2020”
Dr. Sam Greene, King’s College London, “Russia and the West: Is Conflict Structural?”
Professor Richard SakwaUniversity of Kent, “The New Atlanticism in the Light of the Trump Presidency”
Chair: Dr. Julie NewtonUniversity of Oxford
17:45 CONCLUDING REMARKS
18:00 RECEPTION IN HILDA BESSE

Friday May 26th

9:00 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
9:30 OPENING REMARKS
9:40 KEYNOTE ADDRESS 
Professor Alexander LukinHigher School of Economics
10:30 RUSSIA’S SHIFTING RELATIONS WITH ITS NEAR NEIGHBOURS
Joseph Heath, University of Oxford, “Minority Rights in Eastern Europe: How Slovakia’s Rusyns can help Ukraine with the E.U.”
Kacper WancyzkUniversity of Oxford, “Russian-Belarusian economic relations after 2014”
Thomas BrewisUniversity of Oxford, “To Forge a Nation? Narratives Behind Russian Passportization in the Near Abroad”
Lisa Yasko, University of Oxford, “Combating Myths of Russian Propaganda in Ukraine”
Chair: Joe BarnesUniversity of Oxford
11:30 BREAK
11:45 THE DRIVERS OF RUSSIA’S POST-2008 MILITARY ADVENTURISM
Connor TaylorUniversity of Oxford, “Russia as a Great Power in the Middle East: How Status Concerns Drive Moscow’s Assertiveness in Syria and Yemen”
Joana Borges-MoronUniversity of Oxford, “Status and Russia’s Military Interventionism, a Comparison of Georgia and Ukraine”
Ivan Klyzcz KentrosUniversity of Glasgow, “Russia’s Normative Dependency and the War on Terror”
Chair: Samuel RamaniUniversity of Oxford
12:45 LUNCH BREAK
13:45 UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM WEBINAR
Samuel RamaniUniversity of Oxford, “Russia’s Responses to Popular Revolutions in the Middle East”
Benjamin RimlandUniversity of Oxford, “The Northern Territories Dispute – Dimming Prospects for Swift Resolution”
Jack SteinColumbia University, “Rivalry in the East: Chinese Influence on Russian Military Reform Since 2008”
Nicole GrajewskiUniversity of Oxford, “Material & Perceptive Drivers of Russia’s Great Power Assertion in the Arctic”
Anatoly MateikoUniversity of Oxford, “The English School Meets the Cognitive Revolution: A Theoretical Discussion of Russia’s Perception of Threats from State Actors (the case of NATO)”
15:00 BREAK
15:15 CLASHING ALLIANCE NETWORKS: THE SOUTH CAUCASUS & CENTRAL ASIA
Kaneshko SangarUniversity College London, “From Normalization of Relations to the Integration of SREB and EEU”
Clemence LizeLondon School of Economics, “China’s interest in the Central Asian Natural Gas Pipeline for its Energy Security and Diplomatic Strategy”
Mirbahram AzimbayliUniversity of Oxford, “Azerbaijan-Russia relations after 2008”
Boris Ajeganov, London School of Economics, “The European Union in the South Caucasus: What Russia Won’t, What China Can’t”
Chair: Nicole GrajewskiUniversity of Oxford
16:30 RUSSIA IN A CHANGING WORLD ORDER
Mher SahakyanNanjing University, “The Strategy of Russia’s Return to Global Big Policy”
Maksim KulaevUniversity of Tartu, “Challenge to Stability Inside & Abroad: Internalization of the International Factors in the Russian Discourse”
Vasif HuseynovUniversity of Göttingen, “Russia’s Shrinking Sphere of Influence”
Chair: Kyle WalterUniversity of Oxford
17:30 CONCLUDING REMARKS

Venue & Accommodation Information

CONFERENCE VENUE DETAILS 
Nissan Lecture Theatre
University of Oxford
St. Antony’s College
62 Woodstock Road
Oxford OX2 6JF

The conference will be held in the Nissan Lecture Theatre at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. The Nissan Lecture Theatre is a fully-equipped tiered Lecture Theatre, it is the largest venue on offer at St Antony’s used for seminars, conferences and has at times played host to some very high profile events at the College.

The room has full audio-visual facilities and full wireless internet access. The room also has wheelchair accessibility from the rear and front of the lecture theatre and designated wheelchair seating. The room is suitable for a maximum of 147 guests in theatre style seating

ACCOMMODATION
Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements. In case of any further questions, please contact the organizers directly: oxfordconference2017@gmail.com.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ACCOMMODATION
To book accommodation during your conference stay, please note that generally there is ample accommodation available at the University of Oxford and you can get rooms at very nominal price. Please visit http://www.universityrooms.com/en/city/oxford/home to book your accommodation.

HOW TO GET TO OXFORD
St Antony’s is located in the heart of Oxford, on the corner of Woodstock Road and Bevington Road. A map of the College site can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

BY RAIL
Trains run at least once an hour between Oxford and London, and twice an hour during peak times. Oxford is also on the main cross-country routes. For details of times and fares, visit http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/.

TAXI
There are taxi ranks (pick-up points) at the train station, Gloucester Green bus station and St Giles in the city centre.
Courtesy Cars: +44 (0)1865 343575; http://www.courtesycarsoxford.co.uk/
ABC Radio Taxi Oxford: +44 (0)1865 242424 or 770077; http://www.radiotaxisoxford.co.uk/
CCB Cars (airport transfers): +44 (0)1865 876699 or 765566; http://www.ccbcars.com/

MAP

Contact

For general inquires please email oxfordclashingvisions@gmail.com 
Twitter: @ClashingVisions


Conference Organizers

Samuel Ramani
University of Oxford
DPhil Candidate International Relations
samuel.ramani@sant.ox.ac.uk
Twitter: @SamRamani2

Nicole Grajewski
University of Oxford
MPhil Candidate Russian & East European Studies
nicole.grajewski@sant.ox.ac.uk
Twitter: @NicoleGrajewski