🎓 Strong science means a strong state. 

The backbone infrastructure of Soviet science was created during the years of the main crisis of the 20th century — the Second World War. In 1942-1943, MIFI, the Kurchatov Institute, MGIMO and other leading universities and research centres were successively created. It is quite appropriate to draw parallels with the current moment — as before, the crisis has forced us to clearly formulate the hierarchy of scientific priorities.

What questions need to be answered in order to determine the direction of development of domestic science in the context of increased international confrontation?

1️⃣ First, what is the fate of scientometrics as a scale for evaluating scientific effectiveness? What tasks has it managed to solve and where has it failed?

2️⃣ Second, Soviet and Russian science could boast of historically important achievements thanks to the participation of relatively young people in its management. It is young researchers and organisers of science who will have to achieve the most important scientific results at the current stage of Russian development.

3️⃣ Third, what is our standard for linking science with the needs of the national economy?

4️⃣ Fourth, Russia mirrors current trends in the development of global science towards applied results. What should be done with the funding of fundamental scientific research that does not yield an immediate practical result?

5️⃣ Fifth, the problem of the dispute between “physicists and lyricists” is again manifesting itself.

The current global crisis requires a clearer definition of the priorities in scientific development, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/possibilities-amid-a-crisis-russian-science/

#ModernDiplomacy #science

@valdai_club

⏰ TODAY at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will hold presentation of its new report, titled “Central Asia and the Ukrainian Crisis”.

❓How is the dynamics of development of the Central Asian states changing amid the destruction of the former new world order?
❓Have there been any changes in relations between the states of Central Asia and Russia since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis?
❓How can one characterise the relations between the Central Asian republics and Western countries in the midst of an acute crisis in Europe?

Participants in the report presentation will answer these and other questions.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, Twitter, VKontakte, Telegram and Zen.

#Asia_and_Eurasia #CentralAsia

@valdai_club

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting the presentation of the Valdai Club report, titled “Central Asia and the Ukrainian Crisis”.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239066

#Asia_and_Eurasia #CentralAsia

@valdai_club

📷 On December 22, the presentation of the Valdai Club report, titled “Central Asia and the Ukrainian Crisis”, took place.

Photo gallery of the discussion is available on VK.

The video of the discussion is available via this link.

Stay tuned!

@valdai_club

🌏 Russia’s political relations with all Central Asian states are traditionally friendly.

With the onset of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, Russia’s attention to events unfolding in even such a close and important region as Central Asia has understandably waned, and this is arguably one of the important setbacks that could have serious ramifications. Following the collapse of the regime established by foreign interventionists in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s return to power, and given the continuing tensions on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border and the acute domestic political crisis that hit Kazakhstan in the first half of January 2022, this region deserved to be in the focus of Russia’s foreign policy priorities. Also, Central Asia’s geopolitical location between the leading Eurasian powers makes it an object of considerable interest not only for Russia and China, but their opponents in the international arena as well.

Countries that are geographically close to Russia and China are, without a doubt, influenced by this proximity, which sometimes affects their domestic and foreign policy decisions. Others, that do not share a border with China or Russia or are geographically far from them, focus more on internal processes and show confidence in their abilities.

So, geopolitical position may well determine the way the Ukraine crisis will affect the Central Asian countries and reveal the main challenges for their domestic political stability, independence in their foreign relations and economic development, write the authors of a new Valdai report, titled “Central Asia and the Ukrainian Crisis”.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/reports/central-asia-and-the-ukraine-crisis/

#valdai_report #Asia_and_Eurasia #CentralAsia #UkraineCrisis

@valdai_club

🌏 Central Asia In a New Reality

On December 22, the Valdai Club presented a new report, titled “Central Asia and the Ukrainian Crisis”.

💬 The moderator of the discussion, Fyodor Lukyanov, Research director of the Valdai Discussion Club, called Central Asian issues among the most important; adding that both the Valdai Club and Russian politics have focused on the region for a long time. He added that this sphere of foreign relations, like others, was influenced by the events of 2022, including the Ukrainian crisis.

💬 Timofei Bordachev, head of the report's team of authors and Programme Director of the Club, pointed to the special importance for Russia of the Central Asian region as part of the geographical region in which Russia's interests are best secured. This significance is especially great against the backdrop of fundamental foreign policy changes in 2022.

💬 Daria Chizhova, the main author of the report, director of the Information and Analytical Center for the Study of Socio-Political Processes in the Post-Soviet Space and editor-in-chief of the Ia-centr.ru portal, analysed the impact of the Ukrainian crisis on Central Asia in a number of specific respects, including the economy. She pointed to an increase in the number of visits by US and European representatives to the region due to its special role in the security architecture of Russia and China which have resulted from geographical factors.

💬 Summarising the economic consequences of what is happening, Alexander Sternik, director of the Third Department of the CIS countries of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that “the apocalyptic scenarios did not come true”, adding “The economies of both Russia and Central Asia are doing better than originally predicted.” He stressed that this is not a spontaneous effect, but the result of systematic work.

💬 Evgeny Kozhokin, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, Political Science and Foreign Regional Studies department of the Russian State University for the Humanities and Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Russian Foreign Ministry, called the report extremely timely. Noting the incorrectness of the thesis that Russia has no policy in Central Asia and lacks success in the region, he pointed out that such a policy exists not only at the level of the state, but also at the level of society, and between Russia and Central Asia there is a kind of connection.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/central-asia-in-a-new-reality/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #CentralAsia

@valdai_club

🌐 The BRICS and the G20 emerged as a response to a global governance architecture that was less than adequate for the times.

This inadequacy is, in major part, responsible for the challenges of access to the necessary instruments for faster growth and development among the most sizable population groups in the world.

There is no denying that despite development gaining lip service, decades of summits have not achieved the requisite development needed to address the UN Agenda for Development and Agenda 2030.

Africa in particular has a young population that is educated and tech savvy, with a growing middle class.

BRICS has an important role in the G20, precisely guided by its own resolutions on the pursuit of development, to drive the agenda and keep pushing until it is done, writes Mikatekiso Kubayi, Researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue associated with UNISA (South Africa).

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/brics-at-the-g20-and-the-centrality/

#Norms_and_Values #BRICS #G20 #Africa

@valdai_club

🇮🇳🌐 2023 is the year India holds the presidency of both the SCO and the G20. 

India’s relationship with the SCO can be analysed at three levels: the micro or bilateral, the macro or multilateral, and the operational or outcome-oriented:

🔸 India’s relationship with the individual components of the SCO and internal contradictions impact its relations with the SCO as a whole.

🔸 India’s relations with multilateral organisations, where India has worked with all countries including China and Pakistan on many issues, like WTO rules, climate change and damages issues and so on have been effective. 

🔸 India’s operationalization of its security, economic, cultural and other interests are set to expand its relationship beyond South Asia to the broader Asian region.

India will engage with all other partners in the SCO to ensure the growth and stability of this Forum as it assists in maintaining the stability of this region has a whole. India has a long-term stake in the SCO, writes Anuradha Chenoy, Adjunct Professor at the Jindal Global University.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco-and-india-/

#ModernDiplomacy #India #SCO #Eurasia

@valdai_club

🇮🇷🌏 Iran's official membership in the SCO (which will be finalised in April 2023) can strengthen the three main security goals stipulated in clause 3 of Article 1 of the organisation’s charter, namely to "jointly counteract terrorism, separatism, and extremism". 

Concerning the counteracting of terrorism, Iran has shown in recent decades that it has the ability and motivation to prevent terrorist operations and ensure security within its borders and has emerged as one of the safest countries in the region.

Since the SCO benefits from economic and cultural tools to strengthen its security goals, Iran's capacities in this area can also be helpful to the organisation.

Iran's entry as SCO's ninth official member can strengthen this organisation's security foundations and cultural connections and contribute to its economic development, writes Valdai Club expert Mandana Tishehyar.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/why-is-iran-s-membership-in-the-shanghai/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #SCO #Iran

@valdai_club

🗾 In November 2021, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe noted that the country should strengthen cooperation with AUKUS members, especially in the field of cyber security and artificial intelligence.

In April 2022, the White House denied media reports that Japan had been invited to join and transform the agreement into a JAUKUS format.

However, there is no smoke without fire — in November 2022, Western analysts again started talking seriously about the prospects for Tokyo to enter the treaty, writes Valdai Club expert Andrey Gubin.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/pacific-bite-japan-becomes-the-epicentre/

#EconomicStatecraft #Japan #AUKUS

@valdai_club

🌏 The Asian states are faced with the challenge of articulating their role in the new international environment, when Western hegemony is giving way to multipolarity.

We created an infographic new forces in Asia. The high-res infographic is available on the website.

#ASIANVALDAI #Asia #Eurasia

@valdai_club

🌏 Recognising the diversity of our cultures is the first step towards our understanding each other.

In the West-centric time when almost all of the social and political thoughts and theories have come from the West, Asians have committed themselves to learn, to comprehend, whilst keeping their traditions.

Economically, the greater continent of Asia which includes at least East and South East Asia, Central Asia, the Indian Peninsula, and the Middle East, is not only densely populated but also home to some of the fastest developing countries in the world, forming largely the driving force of the coming era known as the Time of Asia, writes Nelson Wong, Vice Chairman, Shanghai Centre for RimPac Strategic and International Studies, for the 13th Asian conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/respecting-cultural-diversity-is-key-to-surviving/

#ASIANVALDAI #Asia #China

@valdai_club

💯🔴 December 30, 2022 marks one hundred years since the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

Attitudes towards the creation of the USSR are closely connected with our perception of the October Revolution. Here, obviously, there is no consensus in modern Russian society. In our social networks and the media, the most heated disputes, with mutual accusations between supporters and opponents of the revolution and all the events that followed it, have failed to subside. At the same time, on both sides, these events have turned into historical myths - which, in turn, are either idealised or demonised, depending on the political position one is arguing. As a result, very often and very convexly, civic positions completely determine historical assessments.

As a result, there can no longer be any question of any neutrality in assessing history. In the end, both the revolution and the Soviet Union have become only symbols for pamphlets.

In current geopolitical conditions, the centenary of the USSR ceases to be just an academic date. It makes one wonder about such things as historical predestination, writes Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-centenary-of-the-ussr/

#Norms_and_Values #USSR #History

@valdai_club

🗽🌏 Throughout the 20th century, American attitudes towards the Soviet Union were overwhelmingly negative. 

▪️ The United States’ had an extensive experience with truly communist utopian communities in the 19th century. These ranged from the secular, communitarian experiments launched by Robert Owen in the 1820s to religious sects.

▪️ Anti-communist sentiment in the late 1910s was mostly intertwined with late 19th century anti-anarchist sentiment, as the anarchists were seen as terrorists.

▪️ In late 1940s and early 1950s America, Soviet rule was synonymous with Stalin. As Joseph McCarthy said in 1950, “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity.”

▪️ To the mid-20th century American, the Soviet Union was synonymous with communist rule – the nuances of communist vs. socialist styles of government were largely lost on the general public.

▪️ The first nuclear tests gave the Soviet Union a special resonance in the American psyche, which had for centuries been fertile ground for millenarian doomsayers warning about the Antichrist, the Book of Revelations and the end times.

It seemed that not only had the Marxist-Leninists attempted to destroy both God and individual liberty, but they could also bring about the end of the world, writes Valdai Club expert Travis Jones.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-soviet-union-in-retrospect-late-20th-century/

🔹 The article is published within the framework of Valdai experts’ discussion on the 100th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s establishment in 1922.

#Norms_and_Values #USSR #History #UnitedStates

@valdai_club

🌐 In 2022 it became finally clear that the “end of history” was over.

The end of the “end of history” is notable for several other specific reasons.

1️⃣ First, a fairly large power took the risk of suddenly abandoning the benefits of “global peace”. Historians will argue about whether Moscow expected such harsh sanctions and such a quick exit of hundreds of foreign companies from Russia. However, it is obvious that Russia is vigorously adapting to the new realities and is in no hurry to “admit fault” in order to return to the comfortable “cruise ship” of Western-centric globalisation.

2️⃣ Second, Western countries have gone about a stringent “cleansing” of Russian assets abroad. It turns out that Western jurisdictions have suddenly ceased to be a “safe haven” in which the rule of law prevails. They are now dominated by politics. Russia remains the only harbour where Russians can return relatively calmly. Stereotypes about the “stability and security” of the West are being broken. Of course, similar purges of other assets are unlikely to start there. But looking at the Russians, investors are wondering if it was worth hedging the risks?

3️⃣ Third, it turns out that in the West, one can face not only the cleansing of assets, but also open discrimination based on nationality. Thousands of Russians fleeing the “bloody regime” have encountered only rejection and contempt. Others, trying to prove that they are more prolific Russophobes than their host partners, are running ahead of the anti-Russian propaganda. However, this does not guarantee that stubborn dogmatists will not send them back to Russia, considering them unsuitable for one or another parameter.

History continues in its usual course of world upheavals, the struggle for survival, fierce competition and rivalry, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/2022-end-of-the-end-of-history/

#valdai_year2022

@valdai_club

🪨🌐 Global coal use is set to rise by 1,2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time.

Dear followers, Happy New Year! We created an infographic on the global coal demand. The high-res infographic is available on the website.

#valdai_infographics #coal #energy

@valdai_club

⛔️ 2022 will go down in the history of political economics and international relations as the year of “big sanctions”.

The “sanctions tsunami” against Russia is rightly considered unprecedented since the end of the Cold War. Strictly speaking, it is very difficult to find a suitable analogue of the current situation even in earlier periods.

Despite the fact that the sanctions’ target is a major nuclear power, such a consolidated pressure from a coalition of almost fifty states, which account for more than 60% of the world’s GDP, clearly defies the usual stereotypes.

Almost all known instruments of sanctions are being used against Russia, including blocking sanctions, trade restrictions, transport bans, and even such exotic measure as an oil price cap. In addition, all these measures were introduced in a record-breaking period of time by historical standards — they hit Russia within a matter of months. 

But is the “sanctions tsunami” of 2022 so unique? Writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/unprecedented-sanctions-by-no-means/

#EconomicStatecraft #valdai_year2022 #sanctions

@valdai_club

🌐 It is easy to talk theoretically about the largest events that completely change the picture of the world, including the familiar old habit of compiling three scenarios for anything: “good”, “bad” and “average”.

But as a rule, academic experts cannot predict that the most radical scenario will be implemented tomorrow. February-2022 was no exception here.

However, the radical scenario has become a reality, and here it is up to the experts to comprehend and analyse it, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/norms-and-values-in-the-war-era/

#Norms_and_Values #valdai_year2022

@valdai_club