The lecture analyzes two vectors of Russian foreign policy - the European and the Asia-Pacific ones. It demonstrates the shift of interest from Europe towards Asia in Russia in the last couple of years, and reflects on the question of how to successfully balance these foreign policy directions.
Prof Oleg BARABANOV is Head of Department of EU Politics at the European Studies Institute at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO) since 2007, and Member of the Governing Board of the Russian Association of European Studies since 2010. Previously, he has held the position of a Head of Directorate for Research Policy at the MGIMO University (2005-2008) and that of a Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies (1997-2004). He graduated from the Department of Medieval History at the Faculty of History of the Lomonosov State University of Moscow (MGU) in 1993. Since 2010 he is also a rapporteur to the Valdai Club - an international discussion club on Russian politics under the aegis of the President of Russia. In July 2012 (just before the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, Russia) he co-authored (with Serghey Karaganov and Timofey Bordachev) the report of the Valdai Club on international dimension of development of Siberia and the Far East, presented to the Russian President. In total, he is the author of 6 research monographs, including the first monograph in Russia on global governance.