12th annual Russian-American seminar opened today in St. Petersburg

The 12th annual Russian-American seminar began work at the department of international relations at St. Petersburg State University on May 26. According to Rosbalt the seminar lasts until May 29. Director of North American Research at the University Professor Boris Shiryaev said in his seminar-opening presentation that the discussion of problems of Russian-American relations is particularly urgent in the run-up to the international summit in St. Petersburg on May 30-31.

Organizers of the seminar said that during the seminar's 12-year existence it has acquired a strong reputation in Russia and the US among scientists, political scientists and society figures. At the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush in May 2002, St. Petersburg State University President Lyudmila Verbitskaya said in here opening address to the presidents that the Russian-American seminar is the longest-running joint Russian-American project at the university.

The Russian-American seminar is an open forum in which important problems of Russian domestic and foreign policy, Russian-American relations, US domestic and foreign policy and the role of Russia and the US in the contemporary world are discussed. Politika Fund President Vyacheslav Nikonov, St. Petersburg political scientist Valery Ostrovsky, Sociologist Roman Mogilevsky and other specialists will take part in this year's seminar.