Johnson's Russia List
#6580
30 November 2002
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A CDI Project
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#15
Russia: Foreign-Policy Elite Launches New Journal
By Gregory Feifer

Some of the biggest guns in Russia's foreign-policy establishment have
launched an international-affairs journal they say they hope will help
finally plug Russia into the international community. Published in
cooperation with the prestigious U.S. "Foreign Affairs" journal, the
magazine is aimed at educating Russia's political elite in foreign affairs.
But it is also aimed at publicizing Russian points of view abroad and may
be used to float controversial ideas in the West.

Moscow, 29 November 2002 (RFE/RL) -- Members of Russia's foreign-policy
elite have unveiled the first issue of a new international-affairs journal
they say will help Russian decision makers better understand the world they
live in.

Published in cooperation with the leading U.S. "Foreign Affairs" journal --
from which some material will be printed -- the new magazine, called
"Russia in Global Affairs," has both official backing and financial support
from some of the country's most powerful businessmen.

Sergei Karaganov is head of Moscow's influential Council on Foreign and
Defense Policy and chairs the journal's editorial board. During a news
conference on 26 November to launch the periodical, he said the publication
is unprecedented because of its "educational character." "Its idea and main
task is to educate the Russian elite -- both current and future --
regarding what's really happening in the outside world. The main reason for
its appearance is the growing gap in the last decade between our dependence
on the outside world and our understanding of that outside world. This gap
is simply becoming dangerous, and that's precisely why we're launching this
journal."

Karaganov said up to half the journal's contents will consist of "the best"
articles from the Western press translated into Russian to augment
originally commissioned work.

Besides leading scholars, editors, and businessmen, the editorial board
includes several Duma deputies and Kremlin and government officials. Among
them are Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and top Kremlin spokesman Sergei
Yastrzhembskii, both of whom represent themselves as individuals and not
the administration.

The board also includes a number of foreign-policy experts from Europe and
the United States. One of them is "Foreign Affairs" editor James Hoge,
another is Harvard University's Graham Allison, who contributed an article
to the first issue on the threat of terrorism.

The journal's "political board" includes metals magnate Vladimir Potanin
and oil-pipeline-monopoly chief Semen Vainshtok, among other big players. A
letter from President Vladimir Putin graces the new periodical's first page.

The editors will produce an additional English-language edition to be sent
to Western academic institutions, libraries, and other organizations.
Karaganov said the English version will have its own original articles as
well as reprints of material previously published by Russian authors who
would not otherwise see their work read abroad. The journal will be
published quarterly, although its editors say they hope to increase the
number to six times a year.

The magazine is not expected to turn a profit; many issues will be sent
free to Russian universities, libraries, and other institutions. Access to
the journal's website (http://www.globalaffairs.ru) will also be free of
charge.

Mikhail Ozerov, the editor of the English-language edition, said the
publication will also be used to publicize Russian opinion abroad. He said
ideas will be floated as "trial balloons" to gauge opinion among leaders in
other countries. "We'll see how they react to these trial balloons --
including ones tied to Chechnya, to the war on terrorism, disarmament, and
so on."

The journal's editor, Fedor Lukyanov, meanwhile said the journal's title
reflects recent changes in international relations. "'World politics' has
always existed -- it's been around since ancient times and for the duration
of all the centuries of human existence. But it has only now become -- or
is becoming -- 'global.' Because for the first time, we live in a world in
which not one country, no matter what its own policies, is in a position to
shield itself from what's going on in the world."

Vyacheslav Nikonov, director of Moscow's Politika Foundation, is another of
the journal's guiding luminaries and editorial board deputy chair. He backs
the opinion that a large gap divides Russia from the West. "For the past
80-plus years, a very serious cultural and intellectual rift has occurred
between Russia and the rest of the world. A situation has developed in
which the Russian elite and the elite of other countries practically speak
in different languages and understand each other badly even on a linguistic
level."

But Nikonov said another development is that Russian ideas are mostly
unknown outside the country. "The rest of the world doesn't know about
Russian intellectual discussions, even though our intellectual life, in my
opinion, is much richer than the intellectual life in many European
countries."

In an article in the first issue of "Russia in Global Affairs," Nikonov
writes that there are two major concepts of global politics. One claims the
United States will dominate international affairs for the foreseeable
future; the other that Washington will botch the job, leading to global
anarchy.

Nikonov proposes a third 21st-century scenario: a 19th-century
balance-of-power in which the United States is the only superpower, but one
that must contend with other so-called indispensable powers, not least of
which is Russia.

Karaganov, meanwhile, said he's happy with the journal. "It came out, in my
opinion, really well. We're very happy about that -- although of course we
can't congratulate ourselves -- but we're nonetheless satisfied. Let's see
what happens after the fifth, sixth, 10th, and 20th issues."

Stressing the periodical's "educational" character, Karaganov said its
editors will encourage other publications to reprint their articles.

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