The Russia-Iraq University Union: Conference on Sustainable Development Concludes with a Draft Strategic Agreement
On February 8–9, 2026, the city of Al-Kut in Iraq hosted the conference "Human Sciences and Sustainable Development" which saw the participation of representatives from leading Russian and Iraqi academic and educational institutions. The conference aimed to create a platform for the exchange of ideas in the humanities, social sciences, and pedagogical sciences, as well as to strengthen international academic ties.
The two-day conference opened with a keynote address by Professor Talib Al-Mosawi, President of the University of Al-Kut. He noted that sustainable development issues are poised to transform the sphere of higher education. In his speech, he also emphasized the development of Russian-Iraqi relations, which are currently characterized by a shift from many years of military-technical cooperation towards scientific and cultural collaboration. Subsequently, other conference participants delivered their reports. Prof. Felix Azhimov, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, HSE University, stated in his presentation that a special task of the humanities lies not only in studying global culture and society but also in preserving cultural heritage as a form of equal representation for the world's peoples. To illustrate this thesis, Prof. Azhimov presented the results of many years of work by Faculty staff on the island of Socotra, which led to the creation of unique dictionaries and books in the previously unwritten Socotri language. This work serves as a vivid example of how humanistic knowledge can contribute to the preservation of regional cultural heritage. Besides HSE University, the Russian side was also represented by colleagues from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University and Chuvash State University named after I.N. Ulyanova.
On the second day of the conference, the Russian participants held a meeting with Dr. Hayder Abed Dhahad, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research (Iraq). The meeting participants discussed issues related to the development of higher education and cooperation between Russia and Iraq, and they exchanged thanks for their collaborative efforts.
The culmination of the conference and the meeting with the Deputy Minister was the development of a draft Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a Union of Russian and Iraqi Universities. This Union is intended to serve as a platform for expanding interaction between scholars of the two nations. Bilateral cooperation holds significant promise, as both Russian and Iraqi researchers share an interest in the joint study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, particularly in the field of Assyriology. Connected to this is another important outcome of the conference: an agreement reached between HSE University and the University of Al-Kut to organize a study trip to Iraq for Assyriology students from the Faculty of Humanities, scheduled to take place in 2026.