Lev Sokolshchik became a supervisor of the international research group of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy

Lev Sokolshchik (Associate Professor at the School of International Regional Studies, Research Fellow at CCEIS), has been working as a supervisor of the international research group on the problem of a new possible arms control treaty since September 1, 2021. The group consist of young specialists from Japan, Iceland, the US, working in the fields of diplomacy, defense, and negotiations.

 

This investigation is carried out within the framework of the Academy of Arms Control Negotiations (ACONA) project. ACONA is a research and educational initiative, implemented by the HSE University in cooperation with Harvard University and a number of other respectable partner organizations. One of the distinctive features of the project is its practical nature. The key results of the scientific group's activities will include a policy brief and policy memo on the transition to a new arms control treaty, as well as the specific recommendations for decision-makers in this area. The Harvard negotiation analysis framework (method) was chosen as a methodological base of the study.

 

This and three other research teams were formed during the first ACONA boot camp (16 to 20 August 2021). During the camp, the members of the research groups have chosen their research topics. In September 2021, in coordination with the supervisor the team presented the research design, plan, the hypothesis, and a detailed description of the work. Currently, the team is conducting a series of interviews with experts from different countries in order to identify the main problematic areas and possible features of the proposed arms control agreement. The participants of the project will present the intermediate results of the study during the second ACONA boot camp, which will take place on January 10-14, 2022. The presentation of the final results is planned to be held in person, if pandemic conditions permit, during the third ACONA boot camp in Iceland on May 9-13, 2022.

 

The Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA) is an international scientific and educational project implemented jointly by the HSE University (Russia), MGIMO University (Russia), the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University (USA), the Woodrow Wilson Center (USA), Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Germany), and Höfði Reykjavík Peace Centre at the University of Iceland (Iceland).