Why Attend?

Since 1998, the Russian economy has grown an average 6 to 7 percent annually. With its stock-market index increasing by 83 percent in 2005, its gold and foreign currency reserves now the fifth largest in the world, and its huge natural gas and oil reserves, Russia is a major emerging market. Having recently hosted the G-8 Summit, Russia is expected to join the World Trade Organization soon.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE U.S. AND GLOBAL ECONOMY?
FOR DOING BUSINESS IN AND WITH RUSSIA?

Obtain the latest on economic, social, and political conditions influencing Russian business and society at this conference, from both experienced practitioners and scholarly experts

• Intensive overview of contemporary issues in the politics of Russian commerce, finance, law, and media in a global context for business leaders, executives, investors, legal professionals, policy analysts, scholars, and students of international studies, business, and law
• Award-winning international roster of speakers with diverse specializations provides multiple perspectives on today's most urgent concerns:
  
  
  • the short- and long-term implications of Russia's transition from a centralized command to market economy
  • the intersection of politics and business in Russia today, or, in President Putin's words, the consequences of "merging power with capital"
  • opportunities and challenges presented by the Russian economy for US and Russian firms
  • consideration of how Russian business has been shaped by, and profoundly affects, social conditions, everyday politics, and the shape of people's experiences and desires
  • Russia's future and its relationship to the rest of the world, which hinges significantly on how business develops, especially in relation to other forms of power
• Varied format of keynote addresses, round tables, scholarly panels, and more informal break-out sessions balances professional initiative, practical skills, and
  "big-picture" understanding of concepts and problems
• Get answers to your most pressing questions by engaging in dialogue with speakers during break-out sessions and social activities
• Opportunities for networking with colleagues and corporate representatives
• Organized by one of the world's leading academic institutions with a fifty-year history of expertise in Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies

Conference Brochure in pdf | WILL-AM Focus 580 interview with Paul Vaaler & Frank Linden