| Institute of USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISKRAN) | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1967 |
| Type | Public |
| Location | Moscow, Russia |
| Website | http://www.iskran.ru/ |
Institute for US and Canadian Studies (Russian: Институт США и Канады РАН, Institut SShA i Kanadi RAN) - is a Russian think tank which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, specializing on the comprehensive studies of the United States and Canada.
ISKRAN was founded by Dr. Georgy Arbatov in 1967 who led the institute until 1995. Since that time it has been the main Soviet and later Russian center of research of American and Canadian foreign and internal policy.
Contents |
ISKRAN played important role in Soviet foreign policy decision making process. Its specialists were responsible for providing unbiased information to Soviet top leaders on the economis, political, military development of the United States. ISKRAN also included a PhD department which provided highly competitive scholarships for American studies.
ISKRAN specialists were among the architects of Soviet detente policy and later assisted Soviet leaders in prepararing all major Arms control deals with the United States. The head of the Institute Dr. Arbatov was personal advisor to Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev.
Since ISKRAN specialists had direct access to the data from the Western block, they managed to overcome ideological barriers and to understand better the internal situation in the Soviet Union and Socialist block in late 1970s - early 1980s. Thus ISKRAN was one of the major Soviet Institutes who initiated and supported Gorbachev policy of Perestroika in 1985.
ISKRAN remained one of the leading Russian think tanks after the Collapse of the Soviet Union. It continued its studies of international political, economic and military issues. ISKRAN retained its functions of political and economic consultations of major Russian government bodies. Currently the institute is headed by Sergey Rogov.[1] The Institute arranges conferences, work-shops, debates on major issues of international relations. Many Russian and foreign scholars and policymakers give their lectures in ISKRAN. Some of Russian prominent policy makers studied or worked in ISKRAN.
The institutes continues to publish monthly Journal "USA-Canada: economics, politics, culture" which was founded in 1970. The Journal is one of the leading Russian foreign policy magazines. It has a strong reputation of thoughtful, analytical and unbiased articles by major Russian scholars and PhD students. Currently the institute is headed by Sergey Rogov.[2]
In 2007 ISKRAN was included in the list of the world leading think-tanks.[3]