ABOUT
THE KORTUNOV GLOBAL AFFAIRS DEBATES
The Kortunov Global Affairs Debates are a project initiated by the Center for the Support and Development of Public Initiatives Creative Diplomacy (PICREADI). It is conducted in the format of a rhetorical competition that deals with the Russia foreign policy and international relations. The annual Debates are held every December in memory of Dr. Sergei V. Kortunov, a Russian political scientist and the author of many publications on national security and identity.
Every year, the Kortunov Debates are unique and specific, with their agenda determined either by the international events of the outgoing year or by an original format of the discussion. What remains unchanged is one thing — the basic rules of the Debates: first, their participants choose one of three most relevant foreign policy topics, and, second, they take opposing sides. Both young experts and experienced ones are welcomed to participate in the Debates. As time has passed, the project has become a professional discussion platform among international politics and economics experts around the world. Today, many previous participants of the Kortunov Debates are well-known and recognized global affairs analysts.
Since 2012, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) has been PICREADI's permanent partner in organizing the Debates. The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University has collaborated with PICREADI and RIAC in conducting the Debates since 2019.