On October 17, 2020, the 29th "Duyan" Workshop of Institute for Central Asian Studies of Lanzhou University was held in Room 602 of Student Activity Center. 29 teachers and students from our school and the School of Marxism of Lanzhou University participated this workshop. The chosen book was "Russia and the West from Alexander I to Putin: Honor in International Relations", written by Andre zygankov and translated by Associate Professor Guan Guihai and Dr. Dai Weijing.

At the beginning, Miss Zhao Liuxi, introduced this book briefly. The relationship between Russia and the west is one of the "ultimate problems" that has puzzled Russia for centuries. The author of this book, Zygankov, defines "honor" as the key point determining the relationship between Russia and the West. He believes that the independent variables such as honor, recognition and confidence jointly determine whether Russia's foreign policy toward the west is cooperative, defensive or tough.

Later, the students shared their views on this book in turn. It is generally believed that this book unfolded in the form of theoretical dialogue, with detailed data, interspersed charts and clear argumentation and novel perspectives, and it is helpful to our own study and research. At the same time, the students put forward their own doubts on the concept definition and value orientation of this book.

In the end, Professor Zeng Xianghong made a summary. He first responded to some of the students' questions. Secondly, he pointed out that the book was lacked of theoretical applicability. Finally, he encourages students to pay attention to the frontier issues in the academic field, read more relevant literature and try to identify suitable research problems.