Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (, also known as MGIMO University) is an institute of higher education under the umbrella of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, considered the most elite university in Russia. It is also one of the top social sciences universities "in Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and BRICS countries", as well as a think tank. MGIMO is reputable for the role of teamwork, analytical thinking, critical reasoning, and strategic planning as aspects of its training methodologies. Henry Kissinger likened it to Harvard and Georgetown because it supplied the  diplomatic elite. Currently, it has the lowest acceptance rate and the highest test scores of any university in the country. It is the alma mater of the largest number of Forbes list members and representatives of the political elite according to Forbes Russia. MGIMO offers educational programs in 18 key fields of study, including international relations and regional studies, politics, governance, diplomacy, world economy, law, journalism, foreign trade and management, energy affairs, linguistics, and environmental studies. It offers MBA and Executive MBA programs, and pre-university tutorials. According to the "Guinness Book of Records", MGIMO teaches 54 full time languages  during every academic term, the most in any academic institution. The university pays special attention to distance learning and digital technologies. Since 2016, MGIMO has been recording and publishing its distance courses at Coursera. As of today, Coursera contains 20 courses by MGIMO professors. MGIMO has integrated an LMS (Electronic Learning Management System) in the educational process. Moodle and Stepik (Russia) platforms are used as well. MGIMO has three campuses – in Moscow, in the Moscow Region and in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) as well as an educational centre for law studies in Geneva, Switzerland. MGIMO is a centre for the Russian-French  Trianon Dialogue, the Russian-Czech Discussion Forum, the Russian-Austrian forum Sochi Dialogue, ASEAN Centre. History. MGIMO was founded on 14 October 1944 by a special decree of the Soviet Government on the basis of the recently established School of International Relations of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. The first 200 students were veterans who had survived in the Second World War. By early 1950s, MGIMO comprised three schools, since its ancestor, the School of History and International Relations was added by the School of International Law and the School of International Economic Relations. In 1954 the Moscow Institute of  Oriental Studies, the successor of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages created in 1815, was integrated into MGIMO. In 1958, MGIMO incorporated one more university – of Foreign Trade. In 1969 the School of Journalism and the School of Law were added. In 1989, admission on a commercial basis started and first students from Western countries began to arrive. In the late 1980s, MGIMO became the first national university to establish its own business school that later in 2012 emerged as the School of Business and International Proficiency. 1992 saw the creation of the School of International Business and Business Administration . In 1994 MGIMO was granted university status but traditionally contains the word "institute" in its name. The same year saw the creation of the International Institute of Administration. The same year a Department of Politics was introduced within the School of International Relations and evolved into the separate School of Political Science in 1998. In 2000, two educational divisions were established - Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy and School of Applied Economics and Commerce. In 2005, the European Studies Institute was opened on MGIMO basis. In 2011, the Institute for Foreign Economic Relations was transformed into the School of Applied  Economics and Commerce. In 2013 The School of Governance and Global Affairs was launched as the first Russian school to train international students in English at bachelor's level. In 2016, MGIMO opened the Odintsovo Branch – its first campus located in the Moscow suburban area. The campus is also a home for MGIMO Gorchakov Lyceum. In 2017, the International Institute of Administration and the School of Political Science merged into the School of Governance and Politics. Rankings. In Russia, MGIMO is the school that offers the best salaries to its graduates, above any other Russian university. In recognition of its  remarkable international education and research, MGIMO has been awarded «5 Stars» in the QS Stars Audit, thus becoming the first university in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and amongst BRICS countries to be bestowed with this accolade. In 2020, MGIMO ranked 1st in Russia and 348th in the QS World University Rankings. In the same year, the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report 2019 ranked MGIMO 8th in the world in Best University Affiliated Think Tanks index, 33rd - Think Tanks with the Most Significant Impact on Public Policy, 16th - Top Think Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe . Structure. Today MGIMO comprises three campuses (Moscow, Moscow Region and Tashkent, Uzbekistan), an educational platform in Geneva for law studies, ten schools, three institutes and one business school. MGIMO institutes. MGIMO became one of the first Russian universities to establish their own business school. In 2019 the advisory board of the MBA Association (AMBA) accredited the MBA and Executive MBA programs of the MGIMO Business School. The same year MGIMO joined European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). There are 19 corporate departments at MGIMO, e.g. of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, of such companies as Rosneft, Transneft, ADV Group . MGIMO cooperates as well with other Russian universities - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, National University of Science and Technology "MISiS", Stavropol and Kuban State Agrarian Universities: Dual degree programs. A priority of MGIMO international policy is the development of bilateral and multilateral international relations, and the promotion of educational and scientific exchange. It has cooperation agreements with more than 170 foreign partners from 57 countries – universities, diplomatic academies, institutes, and research centers. The university has more than 30 dual/triple degree programs with universities of Europe and America, undergraduate and postgraduate programs in English, French, Italian, German and Chinese . In implementing bachelor and master programs MGIMO partners with foreign universities. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Fletcher School at Tufts University announced it will break off its academic relationship with the school. Similarly, Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris), the University of Reading and the University of St Andrews among others, announced suspending all academic collaboration with MGIMO. Science and research. The university faculty represents professors and teachers. Each year MGIMO has special courses by foreign visiting professors, among them Robert Legvold and William Wohlforth. MGIMO has granted honorary doctorate degrees to foreign politicians, public  experts, diplomats and scholars, working in the field of international relations and foreign policy among which President of France (2007–2012) Nikolas Sarkozy, President of the European Commission (1999–2004) Romano Prodi, President of the French Institute of International Affairs Thierry de Montbrial, Prince of Monaco Albert II, President of Chile Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria and others. The Institute of International Studies of MGIMO comprises 12 research centers and accumulates the scientific and intellectual output of the university. Early the research structures were presented by Problem Research Laboratory for System Analysis of International Relations (1976-1990), Center for International Studies (1990-2004 ), and the Research Coordination Council for International Studies (2004-2009). These 12 centers now cover a range of international issues ranging from developments in the post-Soviet space to disarmament and conflict settlement, from the Asia Pacific to Middle East. MGIMO is member of international organizations, including MGIMO contributes to the Russian Political Science Association, the United Nations Association of Russia (RISA), a number of Russian foundations and non-governmental organizations, as well as leading global think tanks. MGIMO University is the founding member of the Russian International Studies Association. Language studies. MGIMO teaches 54 languages; a Guinness world record . Student life. MGIMO provides a choice of opportunities for students’ social life. The Cultural Center provides creative classes and events. Each student has a cultural panoply to choose from: Ballroom Dance, Modern Dance, the choir (PROXENOS)Proxenos. MGIMO Choir., the orchestra (SYMPHONY), a Literary and Poetry Club, the MGIMO Theatre, and a Painting Club. The Volunteer Center, established in 2011, provides training for students who have a chance to practice their skills at large international events. MGIMO volunteers have worked at the FIFA World Cup 2018, the XXII Olympic Games and the XI Paralympic Games. MGIMO foreign students organize national clubs  inside the International Students Association. There is a number of other student clubs including Student Union, Moscow International Model United Nations (MIMUN) (in 2017 was named after Vitaly Churkin), Student Science Society (includes Business Club, Debate Club, Germanic Studies Club, etc.), Russian Association of Public Relations Students Notable alumni. In 1991, MGIMO Alumni Association was founded to support the community of MGIMO graduates. In 2006, the MGIMO Board of Trustees was established with Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, as its chairman. The trustees are Russian high-ranking officials and public figures, mostly MGIMO alumni, as well as Russian and  foreign leaders of business and philanthropic community (such as Ingvar Kamprad, the IKEA founder, and Frederik Paulsen, chairman of the board of directors of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Lausanne). MGIMO was the first university in Russia to establish an Endowment Fund. MGIMO Endowment today is the biggest university foundation in Russia. It provides support to students projects and their foreign internships. Notable MGIMO alumni include: Business personalities in Russia, who studied at MGIMO, include billionaires Alisher Usmanov, Dmitry Mazepin, Patokh Chodiev and Vladimir Potanin. Politics. 1,200 students, faculty and staff of the university signed an  open letter in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, stating that they "consider it morally unacceptable to stay on the sidelines and keep silent when people are dying in a neighboring state. They are dying through the fault of those who preferred weapons instead of peaceful diplomacy. ... Many generations of future diplomats will have to rebuild the trust in Russia and the good relations with our neighbors that have been lost." Anatoly Torkunov, Rector of the university, was suspended by the European University Association (EUA) following support for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by the Russian  Union of Rectors (RUR) in March 2022, for being "diametrically opposed to the European values that they committed to when joining EUA”.