EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON ARMS CONTROL FOR
RUSSIAN LEGISLATORS
Since 1996, the PIR Center has conducted the Educational Program on Arms Control for Russian Legislators.
The program includes the preparation of information, reference, and analytical materials on the most vital issues of arms control, for deputies and officials of the Duma Staff and also for members of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly. PIR Center members actively took part in deliberations on Russia's ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, contributed to the passage of the Law on Export Control (1998-1999) by Russia's Legislature, promoted ratification of START II (1998-2000) and discussion the CTBT ratification.
Alexei Arbatov, Deputy Chair of the Duma's Defense Committee:
"The PIR Center with its periodicals and other publications, with participation in the parliamentary hearings and through consultations regularly informs the Duma's deputies - members of the Committee for International Affairs and other committees - on urgent problems of arms control and WMD nonproliferation. These issues are quite important for the State Duma. The activities of the PIR Center are extremely useful for deputies in their legislative work and deserve attention and support."
PIR Center staff keep an attentive eye on information coming from the State Duma (including its committees hearings), attends sessions, and studies the various platforms of political forces leading up to elections, as well as analyzing the voting results. PIR staff regularly meets Duma deputies to discuss arms control, disarmament and other nuclear-related issues. Conclusions take the form of analytical papers, reports and articles. In October 2000, the PIR Center signed a protocol on cooperation with the Duma's Defense Committee chaired by Andrei Nikolaev.
Director of the project is PIR Deputy Director Yury Fedorov. The working group contains PIR Director Vladimir Orlov, Senior Advisor Roland Timerbaev, Senior Advisor Yevgeny Maslin, Advisor Vasily Lata, and Junior Research Associate Dmitry Kovchegin.
On February 28, 2001 the PIR Center held a seminar for the Federal Assembly "New US Administration and the US-Russian Disarmament and Nonproliferation Dialogue". Keynote speakers were Mikhail Lysenko, Deputy Director of the Department of Security and Disarmament Affairs of the MFA; Victor Koltunov, Consultant of the International Treaties Department of the MOD; and Vladimir Baranovsky, Deputy Director of the Institute for World Economy and International Relations.
Sponsored or co-sponsored by the PIR Center, the following conferences, seminars, and workshops have taken place in the Metropol, National, Danilovski, and Bor hotels (details of some of the topics covered and the names of some of the speakers are given):
"New US Administration and US-Russian Disarmament and Nonproliferation Dialogue" (February 28, 2001)
- Victor Koltunov, Consultant of the International Treaties Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry
- Vladimir Baranovsky, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Mikhail Lysenko, Deputy DirectorDeputy Director of the Department of Security and Disarmament Affairs of the Russian Foreign Ministry
"Export Control in Russia: Legislation and Practice" (Feb. 25, 1999)
- Ambassador Nikolai Uspensky: Department Chief of International Affairs for the Security Council Administration
- Lieutenant-General Gennady Evstafiev: The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service
- Vladimir Misuchenko: Deputy Director of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly Press Department
"The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT): Problems of Ratification and Enforcement in a Changing Environment" (Dec. 14, 1998)
- Sergey Reshetnikov: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Security and Disarmament
- General (ret.) Evgeny Maslin: PIR Center Senior Advisor and formal Head of the 12th Directorate of the Ministry of Defense
"The START II Ratification Process and Prospects for START III" (Oct. 8, 1998)
- Major-General Vladimir Dvorkin: Chief of the 4th Central Research Institute in the Ministry of Defense
- Colonel Robert Boudreau: Department of Cooperative Programs of Defense Issues (USA)
- Professor Anatoliy Diakov: Director of the Center for Disarmament, Energy, and Ecology at the Moscow Physical-Technical University
"The Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention: Analysis of Implementation in Russia" (Feb. 19, 1998)
- Alexander Ivanov: First Deputy to the Chairman of the Committee for Convention-Related Problems of Chemical and Biological Weapons within the Presidential Administration
- Dr. Natalia Kalinina: PIR Center Research Council Member and Government Senior Expert
- John Walker: Senior Specialist of the Department on Export Control and Disarmament in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK)
"Conventional Arms Export from Russia" (Nov. 13, 1997)
- Marina Beliaeva: Senior Specialist in the Department of International Organizations and Nonproliferation in the Ministry of Atomic Energy
- Richard Kupitt: Center for International Trade and Security (USA)
"Nuclear Disarmament and Contribution by the Five Nuclear Powers, including Russian-U.S. Agreements in Helsinki" (May 29, 1997)
- Sergey Kisliak: Director of the Department of Disarmament and Export Control in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- John Lepingwell: Research Associate of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies
"Antipersonnel Mines: the Ottawa Process and Russia" (April 10, 1997)
- Ambassador Boris Schiborin: The Disarmament and Security Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Gennady Khromov: Department Chief of Minoboronprom
"The ABM Treaty: Demarcation and Sustainability" (Jan. 30, 1997)
- Sergey Kortunov: Adviser of the Council of Defense
- Alexander Menshikov: Chief Designer of the MAK "Vympel"
"The Chemical Weapons Convention and Russia" (Nov. 21, 1996)
- Ian Kennion: Executive Secretary to the Interim Technical Secretariat of the Organization on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
- Major-General (ret.) Vladimir Belous: Professor and Head of the Military Policy Sector at the Military Sciences Academy
The PIR Center also issues a review "The State Duma and Arms Control and Nonproliferation" disseminated by e-mail and partly published in the PIR publications. Starting from fall 2001 the review will come out once in two months. The latest issue and the archives may be found in the "Publications" section of the Web site http://www.pircenter.org/russian/publications/duma/index.htm
Another part of the project is preparation of a number of exclusive materials for the deputies. In April 2001, the Arms Control Guide containing major documents and commentary on them came out. The objective of the book is to bring together key documents signed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and to present them in a convenient form. Some treaties are large and full of technicalities understandable to narrow specialists only. This is why the authors paid special attention to the presentation of information in short and clear form.
The target audience for the Arms Control Guide contains governmental officials dealing with the arms control issues, the parliamentarians and international security experts.
In December 2001 the PIR Center plans to publish a book by Yury Fedorov on missile and missile technology proliferation and ways to curb it. This will be one of the first publications in Russia on this topic and it will cover a broad range of issues.
In February 2002, the PIR Center will hold a seminar on missile and missile technology proliferation. The PIR Center plans to invite a broad range of Russian and foreign experts and governmental officials, including the State Duma deputies and staff.
For additional information please contact Yury Fedorov at fedorov@pircenter.org or by phone (095) 234-0525 and fax (095) 234-9558
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