23-24 Oct 2003

Analysing ethnic tension in the Caucasus and Siberia Background NATO-Russia relations Over twenty researchers from different areas of expertise such as sociology, demography and political science participated in a seminar on "Ethno-political aspects of security in areas of latent conflict and potential tension in the Caucasus and Siberia", 23-24 October. The seminar aimed to assess the results of research conducted by different academic institutions from across Russia and the Caucasus. Participants shared their findings on ethnic conflicts and came to the conclusion that the result of their research did not support public reports of dramatically increased immigration figures and links between immigration and crime. They also exchanged their sometimes unsuccessful experiences in trying to communicate these academic findings to regional government structures in order to help in the management of ethnic tensions in the Caucasus and Russian Siberia. In addition to the intensity of the discussions during the seminar which allowed researchers to compare and share their findings, the event will have practical implications since a collection of papers will be collated to highlight the various factors that do affect ethnic stability in the Caucasus and Siberia. The seminar took place at the Kuban State University in Krasnodar. It was organised by the Scientific Educational Forum for International Relations, Krasnodar, and was co-sponsored by the NATO Information Office in Moscow.