Institute of Democracy and Cooperation

File:IDC logo.jpg

Institute of Democracy and Cooperation

Institute of Democracy and Cooperation (IDCP) is a pro-Russia think tank founded in 2008 and based in Paris, France.

In 2009, Andranik Migranyan, was listed as the "head of the New York office of the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation". The New York branch shut down in 2015.

About

Excerpt from the Institute for European Integrity:

The Institute of Democracy and Cooperation in Paris (a/k/a “IDCP” or “IDC”) was founded in 2008 by Russian attorney Anatoliy Kucherena. In addition to having purportedly acted as Putin’s doverennoe litso (trusted representative) during the 2012 and 2018 Russian presidential elections, Mr. Kucherena has handled high-profile cases relevant to the Kremlin such as former NSA contractor turned Russian citizen Edward Snowden and Ukrainian president-turned-fugitive Viktor Yanukovych. Adding to his many achievements, the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention has characterized IDCP’s founder as a high-level individual who works within entities that are “…providing financial support to actions that undermine Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, and independence.”

IDCP as a combined organizational whole has maintained limited staff. What it lacks in terms of manpower is alleviated by the milieu it traffics in with other pro-Kremlin organizations. Moreover, these networks tend to share, as well as recycle, senior leadership yielding a convergence on numerous issues. IDCP presents a variety of concerning issues such as the following: 1: undisclosed government support; 2: senior leadership possessing close links to ultranationalists; and 3: participation in well-known disinformation media ecosystems and serving as a fake observer for biased elections.

In addition to its undisclosed funding sources, IDCP appears to operate predominantly as a two-person team involving the following individuals: at its helm is Director Natalia Narochnitskaya, while John Laughland fills the role of Director of Studies. According to a leaked diplomatic cable from Wikileaks, the founder of IDCP Anatoliy Kucherena confirmed that the Government of Russia would be providing financial support to the organization; furthermore, circa 2014, John Laughland stated that the Foundation for Historical Outlook in Moscow, whose president is Ms. Narochnitskaya, would provide funds. Ms. Narochnitskaya is a former Soviet diplomat, an erstwhile Rodina member turned prominent far-right figure and, until quite recently, a trustee for the now-sanctioned Russkiy Mir Foundation. John Laughland offers amplification and outreach into the UK political conservative sphere by offering a Eurosceptic perception on a variety of issues that are often girded by an extreme national sovereignty philosophy.

Outside of Mr. Laughland and Ms. Narochnitskaya serving as experts for the Russian Valdai Club, both can be traced back to overlapping tenures on certain projects involving or indirectly connected to sanctioned Russian ultranationalist Alexander Dugin. Before being rebranded as Sputnik, the Voice of Russia housed all three of these individuals as political commentators that could be counted on to offer their opinions. One major ideological overlap, between Narochnitskaya and Dugin, comes in the form of the Izborsky Club, a far-right think-tank founded by Alexander Prokhanov; his aim at the time of writing was to unite “white” and “Red” Russians, an attempt to align elements at both ends of the political spectrum. The Italian journal Geopolitica is, according to expert Anton Shekhovtsov, an extreme right-wing journal whose founder also happens to be a member of the high council belonging to the International Eurasian Movement that is led by Dugin; moreover, in 2014, both Laughland and Narochnitskaya sat on Geopolitica’s Scientific Committee. Michel Chossudovsky, a fellow alumunus of Gepolitica, Russia Today (RT), and Voice of Russia, is the founder and ideological driver of Global Research, a well-known site that’s become enmeshed in narrative laundering operations encompassing fringe ideas as well as conspiracy theories, to say nothing of Dugin and Laughland being listed as authors.

Less than a week after Russia passed a law banning the distribution of "propaganda" promoting "non-traditional sexual relationships” to minors, IDCP convened a roundtable on the topic of “the decline of family values ​​in Europe, as well as the Russian view of the problem and the measures taken by the Russian authorities to preserve the institution of the family, for which the Russian government was severely criticized by the liberal elites of the West.” Then-deputy of the Italian parliament Luca Volonte, amongst other political figures, attended this roundtable. Presenting himself as a defender of natural law and family values, Mr. Volonte and his foundation Novae Terrae (established 2013) are linked to anti-gender disinformation and the Russian-Azerbaijani laundromat, resulting in the former-deputies’ prison sentence and banishment from the Council of Europe in 2021. IDCP would then host, in 2017, renowned conspiratorial journalist and avowed Ghouta, Syria chemical attack denier Vanessa Beesely, allowing her to evangelize nonsensical theories. A former Serena-Shim recipient, Ms. Beesely received the award for her “uncompromised integrity in journalism.” The award has historically been given to those espousing pro-Assad regime viewpoints that serve, knowingly or not, to also further Kremlin narratives. While not officially listed on IDCP’s website, Maurice Bonnot served as a fake observer for a biased Russian election in 2018, along with members from the Franco-Russian Dialogue. Lastly, there exist numerous appearances by Mr. Laughland on RT, a Kremlin-funded and now-EU sanctioned entity espousing anti-Western lines.

Third sector organizations such as nonprofits, think tanks, or foundations possessing meaningful links to or behaviours consistent with: malign influence and finance; financial and organised crime; narrative or reputation laundering; or espionage, amongst others, may morally corrode the nonprofit space. Additionally, any organization engaged in or associated with such activities can potentially serve as a vector for undermining western institutions and values as well as transatlantic relationships. Open-source information indicates Institute of Democracy and Cooperation in Paris' senior leadership and its direct as well as indirect activities warrant the designation of this organization as a “high-risk NGO”. Therefore, IDCP has been placed onto the Institute for European Integrity’s NGO Watchlist.

'An Invention Based on Conversations'

In late April 1999, Representative Curt Weldon took a congressional delegation including Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, Roscoe Bartlett and others to Kosovo. The purpose of this delegation was to negotiate a Kosovo peace agreement. The negotiations involved our delegation, a group of Russian Duma members, and people close to genocidal dictator Slobodan Milosevic. Russia also sent Russian Mob connected Victor Chernomyrdin as its envoy to Kosovo.

David Swanson was Kucinich’s Press Secretary in 2004. He would go on to write for the Ron Paul Institute, and attend friendship tours with Russia as recently as 2017. He was even approached by Russian Intelligence at one point. He also interviewed Jill Stein about her platform in the 2016 election.

At the 2008 World Russia Forum, Putin propagandist Edward Lozansky introduced Kucinich as a congressman who was close to Russia, whereupon Kucinich gave an eight-minute presentation about how we should be friends with Russia. This speech was his second appearance at this forum, and was delivered shortly after Andranik Migranyan, the man who ran the New York office of Putin’s Think-Tank the “Institute of Democracy and Cooperation.”

Reportedly IDC was an invention based on conversations had between Paul Manafort, Dimitri Simes, Oleg Deripaska and/or Gleb Pavlovsky.

The Discovery Institute is a conservative think tank which co-sponsored the World Russia Forum beginning in 2009.

Kucinich had a speaking slot at the 2010 World Russia Forum. The Russian Orthodox Church sent its emissaries there, as well as Russian Alexander Torshin.

Ed Lozansky, Daniel McAdams, and Dennis Kucinich were all listed as contact points by the Mark Saylor Company lobbying by the Putin backed, break away Republics of of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2010. These Republics were created as ways for Putin to weaken former Soviet States around him in order to gain control over them.

Former Representative Kucinich started off 2013 by signing on as a Fox News Contributor. He spent the rest of Obama’s presidency criticizing his foreign policy — on Fox News and Russia Today.

In April 2013, Kucinich joined the Ron Paul Institute which is a libertarian Republican think tank, and was working on defending the Russian spy Edward Snowden, at the time.

The Ron Paul Institute has a curiously pro-Putin bent, and is led by a contributor to the Russia’s top propaganda website which was forced by the US Department of Justice to register as an agency of the Kremlin.

The Ron Paul Institute’s Executive Director is Daniel McAdams, Russia Today Contributor and Fellow at the Dr Edward Lozansky’s American University in Moscow. John Laughland is on the board with Kucinich, but his central role is to run the Putin funded Paris office of the think tank the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation.

The IDC was founded as an effort to “repair Russia’s damaged image in the US and Europe and at the same time extend the reach and influence of the [Government of Russia],” according to a U.S. State Department cable published by Wikileaks.

Laughland, McAdams, and RPI academic board member Mark Almond also worked for the now-defunct British Helsinki Human Rights Group, a pro-Kremlin NGO that defended dictators against human rights abuse charges.

In 2011, Ron Paul Institute Executive Director registered a website called the Daily Putin. McAdams has been very outspoken in his criticism of US foreign from a Russia centric point of view.

By any account, Kucinich has joined the chorus of Pro-Putin people in the United States by blaming the United States for Russia’s invasion of Crimea, advocating for Georgian Breakaway regions with McAdams and Lozansky and his constant attempts to ensure Assad stays in power in Syria.

More recently, Kucinich has touted the Conventional Kremlin line, siding with Trump. He called the Trump campaign’s infamous meeting with Russian agents “nothing,” praised Trump’s inauguration speech as “unifying” and “great,” and has spouted the Trump lines about the Deep State trying to destroy his presidency. His twitter reads like any right wing talk show hosts would when talking about the election.

Russia's 'Soft Power' Arm

From Radio Free Europe in 2009:

"NEW YORK -- Tucked into a piece of prime real estate in midtown Manhattan, the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation currently boasts just four employees -- two Russian analysts, a secretary, and Andranik Migranyan, the Armenian-born political scientist who serves as director of the institute's New York branch.

It appears to be a bare-bones operation. Much of the furniture and office equipment are secondhand, left behind by the previous tenants. Migranyan, who occupies a sleek corner office with a sweeping view of the city, is dressed casually in a brown leather jacket and sweater. During the course of a two-hour interview, the premises remain preternaturally silent, with no evident signs of activity or bustle.

But Migranyan, a former adviser to Boris Yeltsin, is thinking bigger. The office, which includes a 30-seat conference room, has already hosted two seminars on U.S.-Russian relations.

From his vantage point on the 20th floor of a corporate skyscraper just minutes away from such New York landmarks as the Chrysler building, the United Nations, and Grand Central station, the institute has already scored a certain achievement in landing right in the heart of the United States' biggest and most international city.

It is an ideal location for one of the institute's chosen areas of interest -- immigration. Migranyan, who slips easily between English and Russian, says it's a topic that is critical for the United States and Russia alike:

"Immigration is an important issue for both Russia and the U.S. The United States has significant experience in the absorption of immigrants, their adaptation and integration," Migranyan says.

"Russia today is also becoming a country of immigrants. The demographic situation is complex. The population’s increase is generated mostly by newcomers. Many of those are from the former Soviet Union, but there are also those from far away -- Vietnamese, Chinese, Afghans, and many others."

Such opportunities for comparative research are part of the reason the institute set up shop abroad. The think tank, founded in Moscow by lawyer and Public Chamber member Anatoly Kucherena, says it "strives to improve relations" between the Russian Federation and the United States. (A second overseas branch has been established in Paris under the direction of former diplomat and State Duma Deputy Natalia Narochnitskaya.) The project is evidence of the Kremlin's growing interest in "soft power" -- using Western media, PR, and think-tank models to advance its own interests in abroad.

Turning The Tables

U.S.-Russian relations hit new post-Cold War lows during the eight-year administration of George W. Bush, when Washington's unilateralist stance came across as arrogant and dismissive in an increasingly wealthy and powerful Russia.

The Kremlin, chafing under Western admonitions to improve its record on democracy and human rights, decided to turn the tables, investing heavily in policy forums, media projects, and PR events designed to acquaint the West with Russia on its own terms.

Such projects include a monthly supplement, "Russia Beyond the Headlines," enclosed in the U.S. "Washington Post" daily. There is also Russia Today, the 24-hour English-language news channel with a pronounced pro-Kremlin slant, and the Valdai discussion group, which invites prominent Western journalists to participate in an intimate forum with top Russian officials.

The Kremlin hired the U.S.-based PR firm Ketchum to orchestrate its media relations when it hosted the Group of Eight in 2006, and has since sunk millions into Western publicity firms in an attempt to burnish its image as a sophisticated, but uncompromising, international partner.

Migranyan says the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation is not financed with Kremlin money, and that Kucherena depends on support from private sponsors. Nevertheless, the institute's views rarely diverge from that of the Kremlin's. Neither does one of its key stated goals -- studying Western democracy and "offering recommendations for its improvement." Founder Kucherena has argued that no country can monopolize the definition of democracy and human rights.

Migranyan, whose name has become a more frequent sight in American publications like "The New York Times" and "The National Interest," has staunchly defended Russia's position on issues like the August war with Georgia and the recent decision by Kyrgyzstan to close the Manas U.S. air base.

But he says that under the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, there are fresh opportunities for U.S.-Russian cooperation on a range of issues.

Migranyan says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security pace provides an ideal template for a new stage in relations.

"If there will be progress in that direction, then it will remove a host of problems creating tension in our relations," Migranyan says, citing U.S. plans to build a missile-defense system in Europe and NATO expansion to Georgia and Ukraine. "There's a belief in Moscow that President Obama is capable of implementing significant changes in Moscow-Washington relations. That will be the final conclusion of the Cold War."

Dispelling Myths

The Institute of Democracy and Cooperation does not appear to be in direct competition with more venerable think tanks like the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations or global democracy watchdogs Freedom House and Human Rights Watch.

But Migranyan says he is bringing in American political analysts to bolster his group on a part-time basis. The institute this week hosts a seminar on challenges to democracy, with a mix of U.S. and Russian experts on the roster. Upcoming, he says, is a panel devoted to the issues of local governance, cosponsored by the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Other projects include a study of American media and a U.S.-Russian symposium on legal reform in Russia. Migranyan says he has invited Leonid Nikitinsky and Genri Reznik, both prominent advocates for Russian justice-sector reform, to participate.

Perhaps with the mention of Nikitinsky and Reznik, both frequent Kremlin critics, Migranyan is hoping to demonstrate that Moscow is ready to make a more nuanced view of policy. The director says one of the aims of his institute is to dispel the myth of Russia as and "evil empire" to be excluded from global institutions.

On the thorny issue of Georgia-Russia relations, and Moscow's recognition of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the wake of last summer's war, Migranyan says the outcome was not inevitable. Russia, he says, was pushed to act by what he characterizes as the extreme behavior of Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili and Washington's support for independence in the breakaway region of Kosovo.

"If there hadn't been such anti-Russia hysteria in Georgia, and if Saakashvili hadn't had such a maniacal obsession with NATO membership and bringing Russia into a head-to-head confrontation with Brussels and Washington, then of course Russia would have been much more restrained with regard to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia hasn't recognized either Transdniester or Nagorno-Karabakh, correct?" Migranyan says. "That means that South Ossetia and Abkhazia were not decisions based on principle, but decisions born out of a coincidence of factors in this particular situation."

Getting the United States and Russia to see eye-to-eye on issues like Georgia and NATO expansion could take years, if not decades. Will the looming economic crisis put a dent in Migranyan's plans to change America from within? The director smiles, but refuses to discuss how plummeting oil prices or the devalued ruble may affect his institute's lifespan. Plans are moving ahead. The work is going well.

Down the hall, his secretary, a Kazakh woman with flawless English, can be heard on the phone, discussing dinner arrangements for this week's seminar. Can the restaurant give a discount on the customary 20 percent gratuity tax? She's confident she can negotiate it down to 15.