Today, Fort Ross is not just a cultural heritage. Every year among the participants of the conference "Dialogue Fort Ross" are more and more influential representatives of cultural, educational, political circles of Russia and America . Also, there are representatives of the Russian Geographical Society.
This year the business part of the program was held in Vologda. Vologda became the third region of Russia awarded the honor to receive distinguished guests. The pioneers from Vologda have played a special role in the history of Russian America in general and the founding of Fort Ross in particular. According to experts, their interaction with the authorities of the United States 200 years ago became an important part of the development of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The mission of the forum is to strengthen bilateral contacts primarily by jointly studying the history of Russian America and its popularization.
Scientific diplomacy
The first panel discussion at the conference was devoted to the subject of scientific diplomacy. It was moderated by Matthew Rojansky, the director of The Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center.
Valery Garbuzov, director of the Institute of the USA and Canada, RAS, noted that the term “scientific diplomacy” is new, but this does not mean that it did not exist. According to him, there are both character and mood, impulsivity in the complex process of making foreign policy decisions. The situation is not very good today, but contracts, exchanges, humanitarian aid can promote its improvement. But they do not compensate the lack of constructive dialogue at the highest level.
Vladimir Baranovsky, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Directorate of the National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, RAS named after E.M.Primakov, said that even in the most remote years of the Cold War there were examples of such interaction, and this is an opportunity to hope for positive results.
One of the brightest joint projects of the Soviet period is the experimental flight, the program "Soyuz - Apollo", also known as the "Handshake in Space".
The topics of the next panel discussions were...
Universities of Russia and America are as a platform for business (from university exchanges to implementation of technical solutions into inventions and further into business). Moderator - Ravi Patel, the Executive Director of the Stanford Russian-American Forum.
Russian-American company: scientists, entrepreneurs, diplomats (significant, but little-known episodes in the history of Russian-American relations). Moderator - Amy Ballard, Honorary Senior Specialist in Historic Heritage Preservation, Smithsonian Institution. Among the experts of the discussion are Vyacheslav Dubeleev, Rector of Vologda State University, Candidate of Historical Sciences and Nadezhda Maksutova, Chairman of the Vologda Branch of the Russian Geographical Society, Candidate of Geographical Sciences.
Sanctions risk management (the effectiveness of sanctions as a tool of foreign policy). Moderator - Jill Dougherty, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and International Affairs, a former correspondent for CNN.
In addition, several expositions operated within the framework of the Dialogue Fort Ross forum. The exhibition "Heroes of Russian America" by artist and sculptor Ilya Vyuev from Moscow. He lived and worked on the Commander Islands from 1986 to 1992.
The exhibition "Alaska of Vladimir Latyntsev". The artist lives in Veliky Ustyug, he took part in the expeditions "Russian America" to Alaska in 2005-2007.
The stand of the Totemsky museum association, which includes the Museum of Mariners and the House-Museum of Ivan Kuskov.
- Here, in Vologda, we met with old acquaintances. Sarah Sweedler came to Totma two times, Robin Joy with Indians several times. Today we present the second edition of the book “Totma, the city of navigators and explorers”, published in 2019 in Russian and English”, said Olga Zavyalova, head of the Museum of Mariners.
Ekaterina Starostina