🎞 The 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Day 1

On Monday, October 24, the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club opened in Moscow.

The presentation of the Valdai Club’s annual report took place on the first day. This year it is called  “A World Without Superpowers”: and is dedicated to the disappearance of the concept of “superpower”.

Three sessions were also held, including a special one. There was also a meeting with a representative of the leadership of the executive and legislative authorities of the Russian Federation.

The theme of the 19th Annual Meeting is  “A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone”. It will run from 24 to 27 October 2022.

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🎥 At 11:30, Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting, titled “Economic Warfare as a Defining Trend in Global Development”, will start.

This year, the word “sanctions” has probably become the most common topic in the world's political and economic discussions, although it is incorrect to say that what is happening today is merely sanctions activity. A full-scale economic war has broken out in the world. Its main target is Russia, but the consequences for the entire planet are difficult to assess. Moreover, the mechanisms that are being worked out will be applied elsewhere.

Live broadcast in English: https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

Live broadcast in Russian: https://ru.valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/ekonomicheskaya-voyna-tretiya-sessiya/


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🚩 Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club:

◽️ Our session is dedicated to economic wars.

◽️ What we are witnessing today did not arise from scratch and has deep roots.

◽️ We have been observing the process of development of interdependence for a long time, but some have begun to use this interdependence to their advantage.

◽️ Since 2022, Russia has faced a sanctions tsunami: The West uses a wide range of sanctions against Russia.

◽️ Today we will try to reflect on this situation both from the point of view of Russia and from the point of view of other countries and get a multidimensional view of the problem.

🎥 Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting — https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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🇨🇦 Radhika Desai, Professor at the Department of Political Studies and Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada:

▪️ The US sanctions reached their peak in 2022. They not only fail to achieve results in relation to the target countries, but also return like a boomerang to those countries that introduced them, and to weaker countries.

▪️ Sanctions very rarely succeed and change the political situation.

▪️ Sanctions are rooted in colonial practice. Stronger, imperialist economies wanted to use sanctions everywhere to fight bloodlessly.

▪️ The creation of the UN is the product of a rare moment in the struggle against colonialism. In response to the creation of the UN, NATO was created to justify the “rules-based order” defined by the United States.

▪️ The USA has never had a serious record on the battlefield (Vietnam, Iraq, Panama and other wars unleashed by the USA in the second half of the 20th century). However, the United States did not suffer serious damage.

▪️ Now the hegemons are losing their former power, and the United States also feels that they are weakening.

▪️ The rest of the world will increase their resilience, their well-being and fight for their independence.

🎥 Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting — https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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🇷🇺 Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, HSE University:

◽️ The balance of power in the global economy is changing - states are looking for partners they can trust.

◽️ We are witnessing a crisis of three “S”: the consequences of the sanitary crisis, the consequences of the sanctions crisis, the consequences of stagflation.

◽️ Any new configuration of the economy will include the key factor of Asia.

◽️ Formation of the economy of distrust: distrust of new partners and distrust of old systems.

◽️ More efforts are needed to convince partners of the need for cooperation. We can expect an increase in the influence of diasporas, religious and other public institutions.

• Distrust of the old systems is distrust of the institutions, financial systems and hubs that we are used to.

• The global economy will become more complex and clumsier.

◽️ The concept of development should be revised, which requires building a balance of internal supports and risk mitigation.

• It is necessary to prevent crises coming from outside.

• It is necessary to create a system of hedging the risks.

• Identify your partners based on mutual interests, not slogans.

🎥 Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting — https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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🇻🇪 Carlos Ron, Venezuela’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America and President of the Simon Bolivar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples:

▪️ The United States is trying to maintain its hegemony, so they are waging an economic war against those whose vision of the world order differs from theirs.

▪️ During the pandemic, Venezuela was hit very hard: access to vaccines was not given, bank accounts were frozen. The United States wanted to create a situation of suffering in our country in order to change the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Thanks to Russia and its supply of vaccines, we have not slipped into a health crisis.

▪️ We need to develop a mechanism to counter sanctions and an alternative to the “rules-based order”.

🎥 Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting — https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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🇮🇳 D.B. Venkatesh Varma, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Russia (2018-2021) (India):

◽️ The sanctions imposed against Russia are unprecedented and reflect the logic of geopolitics, the struggle of different views of the world order.

◽️ The sanctions have not been successful in terms of influencing the political situation.

◽️ Russia has stabilized its economy, but the conflict in Ukraine has escalated into a conflict between Russia and the West.

◽️ India pursues an independent policy that does not depend on propaganda.

◽️ Now we are looking for alternatives to the dollar and the SWIFT system. Dedollarization has begun.

◽️ India's cooperation with Russia will continue, including in the nuclear sphere.

◽️ It is necessary to maintain interaction within the framework of a multipolar world.

◽️ The UN Security Council is immobile and paralyzed, now it does not have the proper influence.

◽️ The longer the conflict lasts, the greater the economic consequences will be.

◽️ Geopolitics is changing to meet the interests of different countries.

◽️ We stand for multipolarity and want to be connected with many other poles.

🎥 Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting — https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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📷 The second day of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club started with the meeting with the aide to the President of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin.

Photo gallery of the meeting is available on VK: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287647143

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📷 The topic of Session 3 of Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting was “Economic Warfare as a Defining Trend in Global Development”.

Photo gallery of the meeting is available on VK: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287648531

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🧩🌐 Despite all its imperfection, mankind has not yet invented a way to achieve this, even in minimal volumes, other than to use force.

The collapse of the power positions of the US and Europe in international politics entails not just a change of leadership, but a revision of the institutions and rules which exist at the global level. In other words, the entire formal international order that emerged after the Second World War, but in reality over the past few centuries, will cease to exist.

The uniqueness and drama of the current state of affairs in international politics lies in the fact that we cannot count on the ability of one state, or a group of sufficiently powerful countries, to play the role of leaders in the future. This means that it will be quite difficult for us to imagine who will be able to force states to comply with the rules of conduct in their foreign policy, and how, writes Programme director Timofei Bordachev for the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-world-after-the-hegemony/

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🇯🇵🇷🇺 The way Russia is pressured is creating an existential threat, against which it might use nuclear weapons. This would lead to a Third World War or Third European War.

It is not worth it, and all countries concerned have to be unified to find a common exit strategy out of this conflict, writes Kazuhiko Togo, Visiting Professor at the Global Centre for Asian and Regional Research at the University of Shizuoka, and Advisor for External Relations for Shizuoka Prefecture. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/a-japanese-view-on-the-conflict-in-ukraine/

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📷 Session 4 of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club was devoted to the energy and food security.

Follow this link to see photos: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287652102

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📷 The second day of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club was completed by the meeting with Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Follow this link to see photos of the meeting: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287654985

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🎥 If you missed the live broadcast of Session 3 of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club “Economic Warfare as a Defining Trend in Global Development”, you can watch the video: https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/economic-warfare-third-session/

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📷 “One World in a New Way: Universal Connectivity Without Global Governance” — this topic was discussed by perticipants of Session 5 of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Follow the link to see photos: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287655926

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⏰ Good morning! Today is Day 3 of the Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting, titled “A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone”.

📆 Programme for October 26, Wednesday

09:30 – 11:00 — Session 6. Values in the Modern World. What Is Their Balance for Genuine Equality?

How can we ensure a fair balance in the new world – not only political and economic, but also cultural and ideological?

Live broadcast in English: https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/values-in-the-modern-world-sixth-session/

Live broadcast in Russian: https://ru.valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/tsennosti-v-sovremennom-mire-shestaya-sessiya/

11:30 – 13:00 — Session 7. Crooked Mirror or Last Hope? Communications in a Chaotic World

How can we neutralize the destructive potential of communications by strengthening their creative role? Is this possible at all?

14:30 – 16:00 — Session 8. Technological Warfare: How Russia Will Develop Under the Western Blockade

How can we achieve technological sovereignty and maintain international cooperation despite the growing conflict?

16:30 – 18:00 — Session 9. Russia in Times of Mobilization: The Reassembly

Mobilization in a broad sense is the reconstruction of the country not only for its survival, but also for advanced development in extremely unfavourable external conditions. To what extent were the state and society prepared for this?

19:30 – 21:00 — Special Session. Russia’s Image in the World: Myths and Reality

How is Russia viewed in the world today and can this image be influenced?

For details, see the Programme of the 19th Annual Meeting.

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🎥 At 9:30 Moscow time, Session 6 of the Valdai Club’s 19th Annual Meeting, titled “Values in the Modern World. What Is Their Balance for Genuine Equality?”, will start.

The modern political map of the world was formed in the second half of the twentieth century, decolonization being the single most important event that shaped it. However, although many decades have passed since the collapse of the colonial empires, the balance of interests between the former colonialists and those who were freed from their oppression has not been established. The West still dominates, albeit by other means. But genuine equality in terms of mutual respect and mutual opportunities has not yet arrived. How can we ensure a fair balance in the new world – not only political and economic, but also cultural and ideological?

Live broadcast in English: https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/values-in-the-modern-world-sixth-session/

Live broadcast in Russian: https://ru.valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/tsennosti-v-sovremennom-mire-shestaya-sessiya/

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🪙 ‘Sanctions Tsunami’ and ‘Economy of Distrust’: Second Day of the Valdai Discussion Club Annual Meeting

On Tuesday, October 25, the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club continued. On this day, three sessions dedicated to economic topics were held; in addition, the Club's experts met with high-ranking representatives of the Russian authorities. 

At a meeting with Russian presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin, the Valdai Club experts discussed the economic war unleashed by the West against Russia and the reasons why the Russian economy manages to survive despite unprecedented sanctions pressure. Oreshkin also shared his views on what could serve as a more just global economic model; one which could open up opportunities for countries to pursue joint development independently and without the dictates of the West. 

The third session, titled "Economic Warfare as a Defining Trend in Global Development," was open to the media; the recording of the broadcast can be viewed on our website. The main target of the economic war is Russia, but the entire planet feels its consequences. The Western (above all, the American) elites have an ingrained notion that the so-called sanctions (which would be more correctly called unilateral restrictive measures, since legitimate sanctions can only be imposed by the UN Security Council) are a cheap and politically acceptable alternative to war, and that they are easier to “sell” to the electorate.

The fourth session was devoted to energy and food security: areas where man-made crises erupted in 2022. Enough food is produced in the world to feed everyone, the experts noted; the problem is in its distribution. Today, the threat to the food security of mankind is the growing disparity in prices between the market of Russia and other countries. Meanwhile, companies from Europe and the US receive direct instructions not to service Russian exports, which is an irrational and unethical decision. Barriers to trade are erected which contradict the rules of the WTO; for the sake of a nation’s ego, they will unbalance the markets. In general, there are three main groups of causes of global hunger: armed conflicts, economic upheavals and the negative effects of climate change.

The fifth session of the conference was dedicated to the crisis of globalisation and global governance institutions. Globalisation - as well as deglobalisation - cannot be seen in isolation from the role of the United States in the global economy. Meanwhile, the institutions of the Bretton Woods system discredited themselves, the participants of the session noted, and the UN Charter is the only reference point in the development of rules for the international system.

At the end of the second day of the conference, the Valdai Club experts met with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak and discussed the energy policy of Russia and the Western countries in the context of the “sanctions tsunami”. Novak spoke about the situation on the world energy markets and about the prospects for Russia's cooperation with international partners, including within the framework of the OPEC+ deal.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/sanctions-tsunami-and-economy-of-distrust-second-day-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-annual-meeting/

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🎞 The 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Day 2

On Tuesday, October 25, the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club continued. On this day, three sessions dedicated to economic topics were held; in addition, the Club's experts met with high-ranking representatives of the Russian authorities, Russian presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak.

The theme of the 19th Annual Meeting is “A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone”. It will run from 24 to 27 October 2022.

#VALDAI2022

@valdai_club

📷 The third day of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club started with Session 6, titled “Values in the Modern World. What Is Their Balance for Genuine Equality?”.

Follow this link to see photos of the meeting: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287662366

#VALDAI2022

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📷 The theme of Session 7 of the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club was “Crooked Mirror or Last Hope? Communications in a Chaotic World”.

Follow this link to see photos of the session: https://vk.com/album-214192832_287664894

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