The Open World Nonproliferation Visitors Program and its Benefits for Young Russian Leaders1

The Open World Program was established in 1999 by an initiative of the Congress Librarian and noted Russia expert James H. Billington and Russian Academician Dmitriy Sergeyevich Likhachev. The Program’s objectives are “to build mutual understanding between the United States and participating countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Ukraine), to create a network of emerging Eurasian leaders dedicated to effecting positive change in their home countries, and to connect these leaders with their American professional colleagues and hosts who are interested in post-visit cooperation and collaboration that will generate concrete results.2” More than 14,000 representatives of all levels of Russian state, regional and local government, Non-Government Organizations, mass media, and the private sector have taken part in the program since its creation. Topics of programs are very diverse. They include governance, rule of law, and social issues, etc.3 In 2005 the Open World Leadership Center in the U.S. Library of Congress launched a Nonproliferation Visitors Program for young Russian leaders, targeting those with direct involvement in the nonproliferation field as well as leaders with a more general interest in the topic. The program is designed to introduce Russia’s next generation of leaders to the world of nonproliferation, with a focus on how nuclear nonproliferation is practiced in the United States. This paper explores the benefits of the program to participants, and whether the experience of participants in the program matches their expectations of what they would learn and experience during their U.S. visit. A participant in the first 2005 visit to the US (the first author of this paper) designed a survey instrument that was sent to all sixty participants in the program so far (there have now been four visits in total, in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009). In addition, survey instruments were sent to the direct supervisors of participants, specifically the people responsible for recommending them. Both groups were asked what they expected from the program, and then whether participation in the program made a difference in the professional lives and careers of those who participated. The findings show that the experience of participants generally matched their expectations, with many positive results as far as putting participants in a position to advance their careers.