Political scientist Sergei Karaganov: biography and personal life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Political science is a rather specific science that requires from a person who wants to succeed in it not only a certain amount of knowledge, but also the ability to analyze and clearly place accents, because the most prominent political scientists can directly or indirectly influence world processes. Sergey Karaganov belongs to such personalities. The biography of this person will be of interest not only to people who have devoted themselves to the study of political processes in society, but also simply have an inquisitive mind. Let's find out the details of Sergey Karaganov's professional activities and personal life.

Youth

Sergei Aleksandrovich Karaganov was born on September 12, 1952 in Moscow. His father, Alexander Karaganov, was a very famous film critic and literary critic, which in the future had a significant impact on his son's professional development. Mother, Sofia Grigoryevna, was first married to the famous Soviet poet Yevgeny Aronovich Dolmatovsky, but after they separated.

The nationality of Sergei Karaganov causes a lot of controversy. He calls himself Russian, but the peculiarities of the surname indicate that, most likely, amonghis ancestors were Tatars.

After graduating from school, Sergei Karaganov entered the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, from which he successfully graduated in 1974 with a degree in Political Economy.

Beginning of professional career

Immediately after graduating from the university, Sergei Alexandrovich began to undergo an internship at the USSR mission to the UN, which lasted until 1977 inclusive, being at the headquarters of this organization in New York. The following year, he returned to Moscow and began working as a research assistant at the Institute for the USA and Canada. In 1979, Sergei Karaganov defended his Ph. D. thesis. Meanwhile, at the Institute, he was promoted to senior researcher, and then head of the sector.

In 1988, Sergei Alexandrovich moved to a new place of work - to the Institute of Europe of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The very next year he became deputy director of this scientific institution. At the same time, a doctoral dissertation was defended.

From the beginning of his professional career, the main issue that Sergei Karaganov de alt with was the relationship of the USSR, and then the Russian Federation, with the countries of the Western world. It is this topic that his candidate and doctoral dissertations, most of the numerous lectures and scientific papers are devoted to.

Government work

Of course, the huge amount of work that Sergey Alexandrovich did to identify the patterns and nuances of relations with the United States and the countries of Western Europe could not help but interestthe government of our country. After all, Sergei Karaganov, in fact, had invaluable experience and knowledge in this matter.

In 1989 he became an expert of the Committee on International Affairs of the Supreme Council, and since 1991 he has been admitted to the Foreign Policy Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1993, Karaganov joined the Presidential Council, of which he remained until the resignation of Boris Yeltsin. In addition, he is a member of the councils under the Security Council of the Russian Federation and under the chairman of the Federation Council. In 2001, he also became an adviser to the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Russia and remained in this position until 2013.

SWAP activities

One of the most important posts he has held since 1994 is his chairmanship of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. This is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992, but at the same time, many experts note its significant influence on the politics of the Russian Federation and on world processes in general. It closely cooperates with various state authorities and international organizations. A number of major programs have been launched under the auspices of the Council. Members of the SWOP are well-known politicians, political scientists, entrepreneurs, public figures. The main priority of the organization is to protect national interests and democratic values.

At the moment, Sergei Aleksandrovich has been assigned the title of Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of this respected organization.

Some experts, in connection with his activities in the SWOP, call Sergey Karaganov a member of the "shadow G8", which includes leading political scientists from the most developed countries of the world, capable of exerting a significant influence on the policies of their powers.

Scientific activity

At the same time, Karaganov did not stop his professional activities: he worked in various scientific and educational institutions, wrote works on political science, taught, lectured both in Russia and abroad.

Since 1991, he has been assigned an honorary chair at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). In 2002, he became the Department of World Politics of the State University - Higher School of Economics, and since 2006 - Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and Politics.

Scientific papers

Political scientist Sergei Karaganov is the author of numerous scientific papers that are highly appreciated by experts around the world. These include such works: "Russia: the state of reforms" (1993), "The economic role of Russia in Europe" (1995) and many others. In most of them, he touches on Russia's relations with Western countries, as well as the issues of choosing an economic and political path for his country in post-Soviet conditions.

In each of his works, Sergei Aleksandrovich tried to approach the issue analytically, to take into account not only individual factors, but to consider the problem as a whole.

Political stance

Throughout his political activities, the views of Sergei Karaganov were patriotic, but withoutoverestimation of the real possibilities of Russia, thus characterizing him as a thoughtful statesman.

Even in the early nineties, he stood in the position of strengthening Russian influence in the post-Soviet space, which was to be carried out through the support of the Russian-speaking population of the former republics of the USSR. According to Karaganov, Russia should develop in its own way, not copying to the smallest detail the economic and political schemes of other states. At the same time, he was not a supporter of the so-called Eurasian or Asian development model.

Karaganov believes that the Russian Federation has no other options than focusing its economy and politics on Europe. The Asian path of development, in his opinion, is not for Russia, but for such states as China, Korea and the countries of Indochina. He is a consistent supporter of the democratization of society. At the same time, according to Sergei Aleksandrovich, integration processes in the European region should in no case be carried out at the expense of the independence, political and economic interests of the country.

Family

Now it's time to talk about what Sergei Karaganov has achieved in family affairs. Their personal life is not widely advertised. Yes, this is not surprising for modern Russian politicians, because the public position of a person can endanger the family as well. Therefore, at the moment we have a rather limited number of sources that tell about the private life of Sergei Alexandrovich.

However, some information aboutSergey Karaganov himself informs the family on his personal website. The wife of a famous political scientist, Ekaterina Igorevna, is much younger than her husband. It belongs to the famous noble family of Miloslavsky. After the marriage, she did not abandon her maiden name and took a double one for herself - Karaganova-Miloslavskaya. In addition, it is known from open sources that she is one of the founders of World House Group LLC.

The couple rarely go out together, as, for example, it was at the celebration of the second anniversary of the Kommersant FM radio station. But even in these rare moments, people around could not help but notice that there are quite warm relations between the spouses.

The daughter Alexandra Sergeevna was born in marriage.

General characteristics of Sergei Karaganov

Thus, we learned what such a well-known specialist as Sergey Karaganov is like. Biography, nationality, professional, scientific and social activities, family life of this person - this is a list of the main issues that we studied.

Undoubtedly, Sergei Alexandrovich Karaganov is a rather outstanding personality who has had a significant impact not only on the development of domestic political science, but also on state policy. He has a sharp analytical mind and has principled positions on a number of important issues related to the further development of Russian society. But the main feature of Sergei Karaganov is his readiness to defend his position to the last.