CONFERENCE AT OU TO EXAMINE THE STATE OF U.S.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

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zm/9-30-08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: OU Public Affairs, (405) 325-1701

NORMAN – Policymakers, academicians and businessmen from the United States and Russia will focus on both the political and economic relations between the two countries and the geopolitical importance of energy during a free, public conference Friday, Oct. 3, at the University of Oklahoma. The conference is titled, “Oil, Gas and Power: Russia and the United States.”

“Stabilizing U.S.-Russian relations is going to be a priority for the next president of the United States,” said Zach Messitte, OU’s vice provost for International Programs. “The recent events in Georgia and Russia’s growing influence in the global supply and demand for energy make understanding Russia central to the challenges of American foreign policy.”

The conference will begin at 9 a.m. in the auditorium of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave. The first panel will focus on U.S.-Russian relations and features Andrew Kuchins from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank, and Gene Lawson, past president of the U.S.-Russian Business Council. Paul Goode, OU assistant professor of political science, will serve as the moderator.

The second panel, which begins at 11 a.m. in the same location, will focus on the energy superpower relationship. Panelists include Ed Chow, also from the Center for International and Strategic Studies; Aleksey Shishaev, head of the Economic Section at the Russian Embassy in Washington; and Darren Jones, head of ConocoPhillips’ Global Gas, Strategic Planning and Business Development. Larry Grillot, dean of OU’s Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, will serve as the moderator. Arthur Hartman, U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1981 to 1987, also will speak during the daylong event.

The conference is part of series of events celebrating the opening of the “American Artists from the Russian Empire” exhibit that opens this weekend at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. For more information on the conference, please call the International Programs at (405) 325-1396.