The nomination of Mikheil Kavelashvili, a family man with traditional values, for the presidency after Salome Zurabishvili, an ardent supporter of radical pro-Westernism is not a turn towards Russia, as many would like to claim, but a turn towards the majority of the Georgian population, which wants to be part…
Eurasia is abuzz. With the exceptions of Turkey’s Berlin—Baghdad railway and India’s Cotton Road, whose progress is being hindered by the Great Middle Eastern War, the Arctic route, the INSTC and the Middle Corridor all proceed at breakneck speed, against the backdrop of the EU’s derisking-framed friendshoring and of China’s investments in creating an integrated China-Southeast ecosystem. The Houthis…
This includes the shutting down of Russian-language media, illegal detentions and searches of representatives of opposition parties and movements, the removal of opposition candidates from elections, the violation of the law by the authorities themselves (which has become commonplace), as well as the active and massive use of public resources,…
What caused the fall of the Assad government? The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the opposition’s rise to power were the result of many years of internal and external contradictions that had intertwined into a complex knot, leading to devastating consequences for Syria. These events cannot be called sudden…
Euro-Atlantic utopia The post-Soviet space is currently experiencing the largest transformations since the collapse of the USSR. They include not only the armed confrontation in Ukraine, the struggle to create an alternative financial and logistical architecture, and the growing activity of extra-regional players. There is also a third dimension, a…
Another global problem has been the growth of waste associated with the digital transformation. In the second decade of the 21st century, the volume of screen and monitors waste, as well as discarded telecommunications equipment, increased worldwide by 30% - from 8.1 million to 10.5 million tons. Moreover, digitalisation affects…
These two characteristics are seen in the radical forces currently active in Aleppo, Aleppo. That is, on the one hand, they consist of various nationalities including from Central Asia and Afghanistan, their slogans are cross-border and emphasise the expansion of operations in other countries, including Iran. On the other, the…
It is natural for any state to prioritize those geographic regions from which the main threat to its basic interests and values originates. Russia is no exception, and for more than 500 years, the West and relations with it have occupied a central place in Russian foreign policy. Moreover, the…
The goal of the conference is to have an open and in-depth discussion on Russian and Asian perspectives on the most significant issues of global and regional development and cooperation. Organizers see the goal as a joint effort to find solutions to current challenges. Programme of the 15th Asian…
Some of the difficulties are also related to the fact that a just low-carbon transition has so many close ties with other aspects of the global economy that it would not be an exaggeration to say that it is only possible in a just international order. For example, modern trade…
In addition, Iran and Russia have succeeded in synchronising “the banking messengers”. On January 29, 2023, the central banks of Iran and Russia signed a deal to connect their national interbank communication and transfer systems to help boost trade and ease two-way bank transactions. In fact, since one of the…
For development, the world needs an image of the future, and now this image of a convenient and comfortable future for all of humanity is emerging in the interaction of the countries of the Global South: those countries that in Russia we call the world majority. China’s global initiative to create a community of “shared destiny for humanity” is an extremely important element of the emerging future…
As tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate, India has found itself navigating a complex web of economic, strategic, and security concerns. What began as conflict between Israel and Hamas now risks expanding into a broader regional conflagration involving Iran and its network of allies. India’s significant ties with…
On November 29, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “Russia, the Global South, and the Global Majority.” Moderator Timofei Bordachev called the topic both timely and important. According to him, interaction with the countries of the global majority and the Global South is of great importance for…
The Red Sea, between Africa and Asia, plays an essential role in international trade and oil transport. Any disruption or closure due to intensifying conflict in the Middle East would have immediate repercussions for the economies of many African states. For example, countries such as Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya and Egypt…
On November 27, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the Russia-DPRK Treaty and the security situation in Northeast Asia. The moderator of the discussion was Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Club. Dmitry Kiku, Deputy Director of the Department for Control over External Restrictions of the Ministry…
For a long time, Turkey’s military industry has been critically dependent on Western financing, institutions and technology, the fragmentary manifestations and consequences of which persist today. However, during the AKP period, the Turkish military-industrial complex has gone through two main stages of development: eliminating external dependence and developing the country’s…
Today’s developments around the world are reminiscent of a global civil conflict, and humanity must develop new tools to address them. This was emphasized by Andrey Bystritskiy, Chair of the Board at the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, during his speech at the Global South Media and Think Tank Summit held in São Paulo…
The 15th Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club will be held in Kuala Lumpur from December 9 to 10, 2024, organized in partnership with the Bait Al Amanah Foundation (Malaysia), the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan), and the Institute for Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP, Malaysia). Over the 20…
One of the foundations of this approach was the Bandung Conference of 1955. Non-Western countries for the first time proclaimed their common goals and objectives. The declaration of this conference recorded the commitment of non-Western countries to the common cause of fighting Western colonialism and imperialism, the recognition of the…
Modern literature on economic sanctions focuses on the effectiveness of their application. Scholars and practitioners are interested in the extent to which sanctions help achieve certain political goals – force a political change, cause damage, limit the development of the target country, etc. Much less attention is paid to the…
On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump was chosen to become the next president of the United States. An analysis of the activities of the first Trump administration (2017-2021) and his statements during this year’s election campaign allow us to outline the possible contours and dominant features of American policy towards…
On November 18, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of an analytical Paper titled “Russia – Africa: Overcoming Difficulties”. Oleg Barabanov, the moderator of the discussion, noted that relations between Russia and Africa are currently on the rise. Russia works with African countries in many areas, including political dialogue, economic…
On the other hand, the current partners of the ANC in the ruling coalition embrace, as noted above, pro-Western and/or right-wing political views. In order to maintain unity within the coalition, certain compromises between the ANC and its partners in the government cannot be ruled out, including on foreign policy…
On November 18 at 12:00 noon Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the Valdai Paper "Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges". Today, Russia is pursuing an active policy of expanding cooperation with African countries. The first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Sochi on November…
Since 2016, strategic competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China has become a prominent feature of the evolution of the international system. Analysing the reasons for this rivalry is an important task in understanding contemporary international relations. Despite the recent 2024 US presidential election, which resulted…
The Nusantara Archipelago has long been known to the Russian people. A merchant from the city of Tver, Afanasy Nikitin, mentioned a mysterious country in Southeast Asia called Shabot in his travel notes “Journey Beyond Three Seas” (1466-1472). According to historians, it could have been one of the kingdoms on…
The SCO understands existing difficulties and is taking steps to systematise multilateral cooperation, developing common goals and objectives, as well as strengthen the mechanisms for their achievement by the organisation's members.Thus, in 2023, the SCO Economic Development Strategy for the period up to 2030 was approved. In 2024, following the…
For the Russian Federation, cooperation with partners in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in multilateral and bilateral formats is one of the international priorities enshrined in the current Foreign Policy Concept of 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the FPC). Moreover, this not only details using the SCO's potential to develop…
As a discussion club widely known for focusing on global politics and world affairs, it is appropriate and timely under the circumstances that we start brainstorming and debating the possible structure of a new world order. This is because, on the one hand, the relatively stable balance of power achieved…
The accumulation of discoveries and innovations in history takes time, but their rapid development and widespread implementation - sometimes reaching revolutionary proportions - usually begins during and after crises (and during conflicts). At the moment, the world has emerged from the Covid-19 economic crisis, but it is in a state…
The cold war didn’t remain cold of its own accord. In the absence of the rising global peace discourse fostered by postwar peace movements, the cold war would have been even more dangerous and, perhaps, never-ending.The original, and most powerful, postwar peace movement was led by the World Peace Council…
“There is nothing permanent except change… from differences results the most beautiful harmony” Heraclitus of Ephesus, 5th century BC If there is a central theme to this year, it is probably the world getting accustomed to the lack of predetermined scenarios. Discussions focusing on international order are fading; the…
Today the world is at an early stage of a global crisis, as evidenced by a sharp increase in conflicts as states vie to become centres of power. This concerns, in particular, the Ukraine conflict, the situation in the Middle East, a set of problems in relations between India and…
High-ranking American officials are reporting the appearance of North Korean military personnel in Russia, and also admit the possibility of their participation in the Ukrainian conflict on the Russian side. The Russian Foreign Ministry characterises such statements as information leaks and hype.Meanwhile, the United States and its allies have serious cause…
Since the start of the military phase of the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Kiev has received active support from the United States and its allies. The West's strategy in the structural confrontation with Russia is aimed at defeating our country without getting involved directly in the conflict. This hybrid confrontation…
The juxtaposition of these two opposite trends produces a rather specific effect: countries, their elites, and even ordinary citizens are trying to find some kind of solution that would allow them to at least look into the future with relative confidence, without constantly looking back in anticipation of some kind…
Indonesia, which has tens of thousands of islands and archipelagos, has been known for hundreds of years as a maritime country. Indonesia's geographical position in the tropics, located at the crossroads between two continents (Asia and Australia), and two oceans (Indian and Pacific), certainly has economic potential and presents strategic…
Two incidents involving the detonation of communication devices, the liquidation of the Hezbollah Secretary General, and the IDF's operation Northern Arrows most aptly reflect the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border over a period of just over a month. Against this background, the "historic" agreement on the demarcation of the maritime…
What is BRICS? In terms of ‘what it is’, Russia has demonstrated consistency in its rhetoric over the years, only refining the descriptive vocabulary it uses but not the definition itself. From its start in 2009 until 2023, BRICS has been presented as a natural and organic manifestation of the…
