HSE Expands Cooperation with Gulf Countries
HSE University and the Centre for International Policy Research (Qatar) have agreed to collaborate in the field of social sciences, with plans for joint research, academic exchanges, and regular expert engagement. The agreement was signed during the roundtable ‘State Capacity and State Resilience in the Global South,’ held as part of the 25th Yasin (April) International Academic Conference at HSE University.
At the signing ceremony, HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov expressed his gratitude to the Qatari partners for participating in the April conference and for their interest in cooperation with HSE. He noted that the agreement was being signed on the eve of the Emir of Qatar’s visit to Russia and expressed hope that it would help strengthen relations between the two countries. Nikita Anisimov highlighted the dynamic development of bilateral ties in science and education.
Majed Mohammed Al Ansari, President and Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Centre for International Policy Research, also emphasised the importance of the agreement for furthering bilateral relations. He noted the in-depth discussion on international politics and security at the roundtable. In his view, joint work between researchers from the two countries will help Russia and Qatar avert security and stability threats and analyse the origins of new challenges. Majed Mohammed Al Ansari thanked HSE University and Nikita Anisimov personally for organising the conference.
At the roundtable, Majed Mohammed Al Ansari remarked that for a long time, the Gulf countries had acted as junior partners to Western states and corporations in the extraction of raw materials. However, since the 1970s, Gulf states have been creating their own national champions, capable of independently extracting resources and building export partnerships with other companies and countries. Qatar established an investment agency and a sovereign wealth fund to manage oil revenues. The national champion strategy extended beyond the energy sector to other industries as well—particularly aviation and media, around which infrastructure has been developed. The emergence and operations of these companies have reshaped Qatar’s role in the world.
The President of the Centre for International Policy Research explained that since 2018, Qatar has been following a model of sustainable security, which combines favourable conditions for investment, resilience to sanctions, and the strengthening of national defence. Qatar also seeks to diversify its foreign policy partnerships by expanding cooperation with Russia, China, and other countries.
Qatar is emerging as an important international mediator in resolving political, economic, and military conflicts. Among the external challenges facing Qatar and the region, Majed Mohammed Al Ansari highlighted ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, including in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine. In his view, countries in the region should play an active role in resolving conflicts within the Gulf.
The Qatari expert stressed that, in recent years, the government’s efforts have focused on creating employment opportunities for its citizens, stimulating entrepreneurial activity, and increasing participation in the private sector—which currently employs no more than 3% of the working-age population (the majority are employed in government institutions and state-linked companies). ‘The idea is that economic sustainability must be robust, and every person should be not only a consumer but also a producer. We need to begin a rebranding of the country,’ said Majed Mohammed Al Ansari. To achieve this, he believes it is crucial to recognise and understand the challenges the country faces, and to address structural issues rather than relying solely on financial injections.
Presentations at the roundtable were also delivered by Vladimir Sazhin, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Vitaly Kabernik, Senior Research Fellow at MGIMO; and Mikhail Mironyuk, First Deputy Dean of the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences.
At the conclusion of the roundtable, its moderator, Leonid Issaev, Deputy Director of the Centre for Stability and Risk Analysis at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences, emphasised the importance of holding discussions that combine political science methodology with the use of quantitative methods and country-specific research, involving leading experts on Iran, Syria, Turkey, and other states. ‘We hope to continue working together in this format in order to achieve more accurate results, including in terms of forecasting,’ he concluded.
Speaking to the HSE News Service, Leonid Issaev noted that collaboration between Russian and Qatari experts would enable a more objective study of the situation in the Middle East and in individual countries of the region, as well as provide policymakers and government officials with more precise and balanced recommendations on the international stage.
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