Gary Lazor, DI Development Senior Director, Business Development, attended the Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)’s 43rd Annual Convention held November 17-20, 2011 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

In this year’s convention, themed “Authorities,” attendees reflected on the multiform characteristics and practices of authority across Eastern European and Eurasian realms in the past and present. At the political level, since the end of socialism, scholars have aimed to make sense of democratization in a variety of political and seemingly apolitical contexts. Participants discussed what kinds of authority leaders have been drawing on to claim power and the sources of their legitimacy.

During a panel titled “The Dragon and the Bear: Sino-Russian Relations in Asia,” Matthew Ouimet, U.S. Department of State Department, discussed striking a balance in Chinese-Russian diplomacy toward North and South Korea. Vitaly Kozyrev, Endicott College, discussed building a revised security architecture in Asia with Russia assuming a new leadership role in the region. Categorized as “Russia’s march to the east,” both panelists focused on the country’s new foreign policy activities and strategies for dealing with China—influencing discussions and negotiations between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea. Read more →