On Tuesday, November 13, the Atlantic Council hosted His Excellency Mr. Igor Ivanov, President of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and former Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation. The discussion focused on the prospects for US-Russia relations after elections in both countries and to solicit new ideas for possible collaboration between the two countries.
Mr. Ivanov is currently the President of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), a non-profit organization. He joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry in 1973 and spent a decade in Spain. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1983. In 1991 he became the ambassador in Madrid. Mr. Ivanov was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs on September 11, 1998. He played a key role in mediating a deal between Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and opposition parties during Georgia’s “Rose Revolution” in 2003. He was succeeded to the post of foreign minister by Sergey Lavrov in 2004, and appointed by President Vladimir Putin to the post of Secretary of the Security Council (national security advisor). Mr. Ivanov is Professor of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University), Member of the Supervisory Council of the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe, and Member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation. He is also a member of the advisory council of The Hague Institute for Global Justice.