Kant’s Legacy Continues to Shape Ideas about the World Order: Results of the Valdai Club Session at the International Kant Congress

On Monday, April 22, 2024, as part of the International Kant Congress in Kaliningrad, the Valdai Club held a special session, titled “Reason and Progress? History of Civilisations Turned to the Future”. The session participants discussed the role of Immanuel Kant in the formation of modern concepts of world order and…

What’s Perpetual Peace Got to Do with RUBIO?

The modus operandus of the West today is simple. There is, it is claimed, a ‘rules-based international order’. Those who comply with the rules are within the pale, or the inner and privileged circle that enjoys good relations with one another, including the most powerful economies in the world. However,…

300 Years of Immanuel Kant. A Reason to Believe

On April 22, 2024, the 300th anniversary of the birth of Immanuel Kant, one of the most significant figures in the history of philosophy, will be celebrated. His life and works are inextricably linked to the University of Königsberg, which today bears the name of this great scholar as the…

Militarisation of the European Union: Beating Plowshares into Swords

At the beginning of March 2024, the European Commission adopted and published the European Defence Industrial Strategy (“Strategy”) and the European Defence Industry Programme (“Programme”). These measures were a reaction to Russia’s overall success, both amid its Special Military Operation, as well as in mobilizing the resources of its military-industrial…

Mutual Respect, Benefit and Harmony Without Unification Are Important Principles of Interstate Relations

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Beijing. Russia and China are organising various commemorative events. The healthy development of Sino-Russian relations amid today's complex and constantly changing international environment is attracting the attention of the whole world.Both sides have emphasised that…

Eurasian Security Structure: From Idea to Practice

On February 29, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his state of the nation speech to the Federal Assembly, stressed the need to form a new contour of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, as well as the country’s readiness for a substantive conversation on this topic with interested parties…

Valdai Club to Hold a Session Within the Framework of the International Kant Congress

On April 22, from 13:30 to 16:30 Kaliningrad Time (GMT +2), the Valdai Discussion Club will hold a special session as part of the International Kant Congress, titled “Reason and Progress? History of Civilisations Turned to the Future”. The session will be held at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (BFU) (Kaliningrad,…

Does Foreign Policy No Longer Matter?

Apparently, the growing changes in international life will be so significant that they will affect not only the direct balance of power between the leading nations, but even our fundamental ideas about the degree of importance of certain types of state activity. We already see that the modern state is…

The Impact of the Coming US Elections on Latin America

The United States seems to be embarked on a heated rematch between two leaders who, despite their different personalities, respective supporter bases and ideological standpoints, have very little to offer in the way of a new relationship between the United States and its southern neighbours. Rather, both a Democrat or…

Information Technology: Threat or Opportunity?

On April 10, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted an expert discussion on international information security, in which both Russian and foreign experts took part. The moderator was Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club. The topic of international…

BRICS Financial Settlements

The background to the recent discussions between the BRICS countries on international monetary and financial matters and, in particular, on possible joint initiatives is well-known in general. There is, first and foremost, an increasingly widespread perception that the current US dollar-centred international monetary system is becoming dysfunctional. Second, the increasing…

The Struggle for the Interpretation of the Crocus City Hall Tragedy

The United States is trying to seize the initiative in the media interpretation of the tragic terrorist attack that occurred in Russia. In the Western media space, Washington is forming the opinion that should, by all means, remove their protégé, Ukraine, from the focus of attention. At certain points in…

Migration in the Mediterranean: Key Problems

For several decades now, the number of people moving from their home country to other destinations has been growing exponentially. The United Nations estimates that more than 280 million people are now living in a country other than their country of birth. This figure is 130 million higher than it…

The Guns Are Heard Better

On February 24, 2022, the discussion on European security was terminated. Europe defined itself as a community of states hostile to Russia (there are exceptions like Hungary and Slovakia, but they have little influence on the EU as a whole). Economic, political and other ties between the European states and…

Why Clarifying Ukraine’s Security Status Is in Russia’s Interest

Mistrust continues to govern relations between Russia and the West. Two years of full-scale military confrontation have only served to confirm existing negative preconceptions about each side’s intentions. President Putin could make the initial move to break this deadlock by sending a clear message that Russia does not seek to…

Maritime Interdiction, a New Global Geopolitical Weapon

Since time immemorial, the sea has been a contested arena for state and non-state actors, for the passage of valuable goods and the control of traffic. Traditionally, the straits have been the focus of attention.On March 23, 2021, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, the world had its first…

Trump’s Path to Victory: A Priority Electorate and a Convenient Vice President

Competition of candidatesIt is worth clarifying that for Trump, issues of loyalty are extremely important and this feature will influence his choice of vice president along with the real strategic advantages of one of the candidates.Marjorie Taylor-Green, Mat Goetz, Byron DonaldsAll three are close to Trump ideologically, but do not…

Diplomacy as a Way to Strengthen Sovereignty

On March 28, 2024, the Valdai Club presented its new report, titled “Crafting National Interests: How Diplomatic Training Impacts Sovereignty”. The moderator was Andrey Sushentsov, programme director of the Club.Nikita Neklyudov, an expert at MGIMO University’s Institute for International Studies, noted that the report returns us to the discussion about…

25 Years of the New Cold War

NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia for international politics was that it was a collective attack, perpetrated by a large group of Western countries, against a sovereign state, and marked the watershed between a time when a peaceful world order could still be expected, and the resumption of the Cold War in…

The Middle East as a Prototype for Polycentricity

The modern world is the most mobile that it has been in the last 30 years. For many years, the relatively stable situation in Europe seemed exemplary to many, and its security complex was perceived as a prototype for other regions to emulate, including the Middle East. However, we see…

Azerbaijan – Armenia: Can the South Caucasus Become a Region of Peace?

The multidirectional geopolitical interests of regional and external players, which directly influence the difficult socio-political transformations in the region, keep us from being optimistic about the rapid transformation of the South Caucasus into a zone of peace – even if some document on the normalisation of relations between Baku and…

Dead Ends of Madness

Alas, the world is on fire. And this fire is only growing. For some reason, it seems that we don’t have enough firefighters. But there are plenty of arsonists. When we look at what is happening in the modern world and reflect on the behaviour of its various elites, it…

Alternatives to the Dollar: Financial Settlement Mechanisms for a Multipolar World

ROn March 18, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted and expert discussion dedicated to financial settlements within the BRICS. Moderator Ivan Timofeev recalled that, according to the final declaration of the 2023 BRICS summit, the relevant departments of the member countries had to work out possible mechanisms for financial settlements. The…

In Search of Global Balance: Rethinking the Role of the UN and Sino-American Relations

The world has lost its understanding of the balance of power that is obvious to everyone, which makes international relations more complex. A large number of emerging crises are caused by the fact that “small” and “medium-sized” countries have begun to experiment: they see an opportunity for themselves to test…

What Should We Expect from BRICS and What Should We Not?

Discrepancies between expectations and practice are one of the most noticeable characteristics of modern world politics, both in the performance of leading powers and in the activities of the international institutions they create. The origin of this phenomenon is the fact that the first is a product of subjective ideas…

New Sanctions Against Russia: Taking a Swing at the Ruble

Amid the second anniversary of the start of the Special Military Operation (SVO) in Ukraine, a number of Western countries and associations launched a new set of sanctions against Russia, as expected. In quantitative terms, the number of Russian companies and citizens subject to restrictive measures was indeed high. However,…

Forward to the Future: Between Fear and Hope

The Valdai Club youth conference on March 5 consisted of three thematic sessions and an open discussion. As during the closed-door workshops held on March 3–4, which you can read about here, the participants in the open session were guided by the image of the future presented in the new…

USA vs. Taiwan: Trading at the Price of Stability

Neither Washington nor Beijing are ready for sharp escalation at the moment. The Americans are looking forward to the presidential election in 2024, and China continues to experience economic problems. Nevertheless, the desire of the United States to prove its readiness to support Taiwan continues to increase the level of hard tension in this part of the planet, where, as it seemed earlier,…

Banking Cooperation between Iran and Russia – Capacities and Constrain

The banking and financial relations between Iran and Russia have developed significantly in recent years under the influence of several factors, which is unprecedented in the history of relations between the two countries, Vali Kaleji writes.  In his article, Dr. Vali Kaleji, a Tehran-based expert on Central Asia and Caucasian…

Fair Multipolarity: How to Ensure Security and Development for All. The 20th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

The 20th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “Fair Multipolarity: How to Ensure Security and Development for All” will be held in Sochi on October 2–5, 2023. The meeting will be attended by more than 130 experts, politicians and diplomats from 43 countries throughout Eurasia, Africa, North and South…