Kolobov Oleg Alekseevich — one of the most decorated, educated, and authorities-loyal Nizhny Novgorod researcher and public figure. Dean of the Faculty of History (GSU) of Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University (1985 - 2002). Founder and dean of the Faculty of International Relations at the Lobachevsky University .

Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Nizhny Novgorod (from 2006 to April 2012). Chairman of the Association of Honorary Consuls of Nizhny Novgorod.

Member of the Russian Society of Sociologists (NOOO ROS). [1].

The Essence of the Phenomenon

Oleg Alekseevich Kolobov is the best-known scholar in the field of social sciences in the Nizhny Novgorod region. He is continuously engaged in self-education and self-improvement, earning positions, orders, and medals for it.

Useful Activity

He has studied, and continues to study, the history of the State of Israel and the countries of the Middle East (the Palestinian question and its political and legal settlement), U.S. foreign-policy planning in the region (since 1979 he has repeatedly traveled abroad, including to the United States, for research purposes), lobbying in the United States and the legislative process, the history of diplomacy in these regions, and the policy of the USA and NATO.

Brief Register of Ranks and Titles

O.A. Kolobov is a full member (academician) of the International Academy of Sciences, Education, Arts and Culture (1993), the Academy of History and Political Science of the Russian Federation (1993), the Russian Academy of Humanities (1994), the International Informatization Academy (1996), and the Academy of the Peoples of the World "Elite" under the UN (1996), the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (1998), the Academy of Military Sciences of Russia (1999), the International Academy of Sciences of Pedagogical Education (1999), the International Slavic Academy of Sciences (2001), the Military-Historical Academy of Russia (2002), the Academy of Political Sciences of Russia (2003), Honored Worker of Higher Education of Russia (1998), Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation (1999), and Honored Professor of UNN (2000).

O.A. Kolobov is chairman of dissertation council D 212.166.10 of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation for the defense of dissertations for the degrees of Doctor of Historical Sciences and Doctor of Political Sciences at Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University, president of the Strategic Initiative Fund (SIF) and the Foundation for European Studies, vice-president of the Russian Association of International Studies and co-director of the Middle East Studies Program (RAMI), a member of the central councils and chairman of regional branches of the ISA, the API RF, the Russian Association of Political Sciences, the Association for European Studies, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, and the Association for American Studies, a member of the council of the Public Chamber of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, a member of the research committee of experts on legislative problems of the International Political Science Association (Paris, France), the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Sociological Society, the European Peace Research Association (Bonn, Germany), the Russian Association of Political Sciences, the "Znanie" (Knowledge) Society of Russia, and also editor-in-chief of the "Nizhny Novgorod Journal of International Studies" (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia).

He held the positions of adviser to the Mayor of Nizhny Novgorod (1996-2000) and to the Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region on socio-political and international affairs (1997-2001), consultant to State Duma deputies of the Russian Federation, and chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region — a member of the Federation Council of Russia (1997-2001). He currently serves as an adviser to the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma (2001), a member of the Heraldic Commission (2000), and deputy chairman of the Encyclopedic Council of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (2003).

O.A. Kolobov was confirmed as deputy director general of the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1997), elected a member of the Advisory Board of the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1998), and a member of the board of the American Biographical Institute (1999).

O.A. Kolobov holds an Honorary Diploma of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1982), is a laureate of the Nizhny Novgorod Prize (1993) and of the prize of the Legislative Assembly and Administration of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (1996), awarded to him for the high quality of his scholarly work, the practical application of his research, and the design of the coat of arms of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 1997 he was awarded a medal of the All-Russian Monarchist Centre for his outstanding contribution to the restoration of Russian Orthodox statehood. In 1999 the public movement "Orthodox Russia" awarded O.A. Kolobov the Alexander Nevsky Medal "For Contribution to the Spiritual Revival of Russia," and in March 2003 the medal-badge "For Sacrificial Service to Russia."

In January 1998 the International Biographical Centre (Cambridge, England) awarded O.A. Kolobov the honorary title "International Man of the Year" for outstanding achievements in science and higher education attained in 1996-1997, presenting him with the corresponding medal and diploma. In 1999 he received the gold medal of the American Biographical Institute for achievements in scholarly work and public activity.

Biography

He was born on 26 June 1948 in the village of Bestuzhevo, Arzamas District, Gorky Region.

His father, Kolobov Alexei Ivanovich, was an engineer and died in 1975. His mother, Kolobova (née Lisenkova) Nina Fyodorovna, was a teacher and died in 1997.

In 1966, having graduated from secondary school No. 1 in Arzamas, where a number of subjects were taught in English, O.A. Kolobov enrolled in the first year of the correspondence division of the Faculty of History and Philology at Lobachevsky University and began working as a teacher of history and geography at the Kostylikha eight-year school (the village of Kostylikha, Arzamas District, Gorky Region). While studying at GSU he was awarded a medal of the RSFSR Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education "For the Best Scholarly Student Work." Having graduated in 1972 from Gorky State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky (GSU) and received a diploma of higher education (qualification: historian, teacher of history and social studies), O.A. Kolobov was assigned as an assistant to the Department of General History of the Faculty of History and Philology at GSU, but three months into this new role he was called up for active service in the Soviet Army. Having served his statutory term as a soldier in the forces of the Moscow Military District of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, he entered the full-time (targeted) postgraduate program at GSU, which he completed with the successful defense, in November 1975, of his candidate's dissertation "American-Israeli Relations During the Period of Israel's Preparation of Aggression Against Arab Countries (1963-1967)" in the specialty 07.00.03 -"general history."

From 1 January 1976 O.A. Kolobov began serving as senior lecturer at the Department of General History of the Faculty of History and Philology at GSU, being responsible for teaching the general course "Contemporary History of the Countries of Asia and Africa" and a number of special courses on twentieth-century international relations,

In 1978 he was elected by competition to the position of associate professor at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Countries of Western Europe and North America of the Faculty of History and Philology at GSU. From 1 August 1979 to 10 May 1980, O.A. Kolobov worked in the United States of America (Washington, D.C.) as a participant in the intergovernmental Soviet-American scholarly exchange program. Upon returning from abroad he was elected head of the newly established Department of the History of the Countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America at the Faculty of History and Philology of GSU and successfully directed this teaching-and-research unit, unique among Russian universities, for the entire term of his tenure. In the autumn of 1985 O.A. Kolobov was again sent abroad by the USSR Ministry of Higher and Secondary Education to the United States of America for scholarly work in the field of "history of diplomacy" at the University of Texas and the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library (Austin, Texas).

Upon his return he headed the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Countries of Europe and North America, merged with the Department of the History of the Countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, which he still heads to this day. Until June 1997 this unit of the Faculty of History was called the "Department of Modern and Contemporary History and Contemporary International Relations." Since June 1997 it has been renamed the Department of International Relations. In November 1987 O.A. Kolobov defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic "The Mechanism of the Formation of United States Policy Toward Israel and the Arab Countries in 1947-1985" before the specialized council of Kiev State University named after T.G. Shevchenko (specialty — then 07.00.05, now 07.00.15 — "history of foreign policy and international relations"). The Higher Attestation Commission under the Council of Ministers of the USSR awarded O.A. Kolobov the academic degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences by its decision of 10 March 1989 (record No. 99/28), and on 4 November of the same year the USSR State Committee for Public Education conferred on him the academic title of professor at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History.

From June 1987 to February 2002, O.A. Kolobov worked as dean of the Faculty of History of Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky. He currently works as dean of the Faculty of International Relations and head of the Department of International Relations of that faculty.

Based on the results of a competition he became a Fulbright scholar, delivering, in that lofty capacity, lecture series in English on fundamental problems of international relations at American University (Washington, D.C.) and other U.S. universities during the spring semester of the 1990/91 academic year. Besides the USA, O.A. Kolobov made business visits to more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, taking part in and presenting papers at many international scholarly conferences, seminars, and symposiums.

Besides the Faculty of International Relations (FIR) and the Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS) of UNN, on the initiative and with the most active participation of O.A. Kolobov the following were created: the Faculty of History, Social Sciences and International Relations (FISNIMO), the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS), many departments (of the history of religions and culture, contemporary Russian history and the history of foreign countries, the history of political parties and social movements, general sociology and social work, applied sociology, the history, methodology and philosophy of science, political science, regional studies, and international political communications and area studies), the Center for Contemporary Political Technologies (with department status), the Center for the Study of Peace and Conflict Resolution (a research institute — a UNESCO center since 1993), and other structures.

Useful Activity

O.A. Kolobov founded an effectively functioning scholarly school of American studies and comparative analysis of the foreign-policy decision-making process of the great powers in the modern and contemporary era, which has gained recognition in Russia and abroad. Under his supervision and consultation, 32 doctoral and more than 100 candidate dissertations have been defended.

The scholarly and teaching works of O.A. Kolobov generally find a lively response in the Russian and foreign press (see, for example, the review prepared by V.P. Babintsev, one of his talented students and followers, "Serious Political Science" (Russky Vestnik. 1993. No. 47-49) on the monograph "The Process of Foreign-Policy Decision-Making: The Historical Experience of the USA, the State of Israel, and the Countries of Western Europe" (Nizhny Novgorod: UNN Publishing House, 1992), written by O.A. Kolobov in co-authorship with his students A.A. Sergunin, A.A. Kornilov, and A.S. Makarychev). Some of the works (the monograph "The USA - Israel and the Arab World") have been translated into English and Arabic. Individual works by O.A. Kolobov have been abstracted by the Congressional Research Service of the USA and the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (see, for example: Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences. Social and Humanitarian Sciences. Domestic and Foreign Literature. Abstract Journal. Series 5. History No. 4. Countries of North America. 96.04.20. Kolobov O.A. U.S. Policy Toward Israel at the Turn of the 1980s-1990s: Monograph / Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky. Nizhny Novgorod: UNN Publishing House, 1995. 177 pp.).

The Significance of Kolobov

Biographical information about O.A. Kolobov has been included in the following publications:

  • Who's Who in the World (Marquis Who's Who (1999 - 2006);
  • Dictionary of International Biography, International Biographic Center, Cambridge, England, 1998 - 2006;
  • The Great Minds of XXI century. - American Biographical Institute (2005 -2006);
  • TOP 100 Educators IBC, Cambridge, England (2005 - 2006);
  • Great Russia. Names. (Moscow, 2004);
  • The Best People of Russia. Encyclopedia. (Moscow, 2006, issue 5);
  • Who's Who in Russia. (Moscow, 1998 - 2006);
  • Who's Who in the 21st Century: Famous Russians. Biographical Directory (Moscow, 2000, 2001)

"Our students find themselves in the UN," — Oleg Kolobov

« "The Nizhny Novgorod Model UN addresses an important topic within a particular area of UN concern: the situation of stateless persons and emigrants," Oleg Kolobov, chairman of the Association of Honorary Consuls and dean of the Faculty of International Relations, told a correspondent of the RIA "Vremya N" news agency, commenting on the opening of the interregional educational forum "Nizhny Novgorod Youth Model UN" on Monday, 1 March.

"The forum is not a role-playing game: in the end a serious document will be produced, a resolution that will be 'sent through the proper channels,' as we used to say. It will be met with interest, if not at the very highest level, then at the level of the relevant UN committees dealing with stateless persons and refugees, and those committees that settle regional conflicts. As an expert I take pleasure in reading the student documents presented at such forums — the formulations found in them are very sincere," he stated.

According to him, at the Faculty of International Relations of UNN in Nizhny Novgorod great attention is paid to raising the competence of students who will in future make decisions on important, pivotal international political problems. Graduates of the faculty are already finding their place at the UN. Anna Puzanova, a senior officer of the Russian Federation's mission at the United Nations office in New York, is a graduate of this faculty.

"I am glad of the students' complete independence. The level of their presentations will be very significant. All the ideas and texts of the presentations will find their place on the pages of our journal of international studies. Everything good begins in one's youth. My first articles, which had a bearing on international problems, were published when I was in my third year. In fact, I never wrote anything better, although I have written enough books. Our students will find their place everywhere: from Geneva to New York," said Oleg Kolobov.

"The UN is now experiencing certain difficulties, which are partly connected with the intellectual intensity of its work. The role of the UN is changing, it is acquiring new qualities. It is now important for this organization not to lose itself in the modern world. The world is changing, its mission is being refined, problems are becoming more complex. Our task is to unite efforts in such a way as to have real opportunities to influence the life of the world community," he concluded.
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Interesting Facts

  • In 2010 he was awarded a commemorative badge of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of INTERPOL.
  • O.A. Kolobov continuously updates his higher education. In 2000, despite numerous insurmountable life trials, O.A. Kolobov successfully graduated from the Faculty of Management and Entrepreneurship of UNN, receiving a diploma with honors in the specialty "jurisprudence." In 2001 O.A. Kolobov also graduated from the continuing-education faculty of UNN, receiving a diploma with honors in the specialty "Political Science."
  • The famous Nizhny Novgorod PR man (and not only he) Roman Skudnyakov defended his candidate's dissertation on the topic "The Interaction of Government and Society in the Russian Federation at the Regional Level" under the supervision of Professor O.A. Kolobov.
  • In 1997 O.A. Kolobov was awarded a medal of the All-Russian Monarchist Centre for his outstanding contribution to the restoration of Russian Orthodox statehood.

See Also