UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239120

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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📷 On September 14, 2023, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.”

Photo gallery of the discussion is available in this album.

The video of the discussion is available via this link.

Stay tuned!

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⚖️ The system of checks and balances is the central structure of modern liberal democracy, and an independent judiciary is its most important element.

For centuries, the judiciary was under the tutelage of political power (it remains so to this day in much of the world). But in liberal democracies it has not only broken free: over the past half century it has pushed political institutions into the background, according to some observers. It no longer contents with the function of control, but imposes its will and its interpretation of law on the executive and legislative bodies.

Created to protect citizens from the whims and abuses of their head of state, the rule of law today shows a clear imbalance in favour of the judiciary; a sovereign nation is subject to the whims of a judge who not only implements the law, but makes it himself, Natalia Rutkevich writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/juristocracy-from-the-rule-of-law/

#Norms_and_Values #law

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🇷🇺🌏 “Russia is returning to Africa” — this phrase is usually used by those who talk about our country’s activities on this continent.

But this phrase is incorrect: Russia, the heir of the Soviet Union, never left Africa.

Given that the adoption of the decisions of the Second Russia-Africa Summit was accompanied by the development of a mechanism for their implementation, and in light of the high professional level of the leaders and employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry who were called upon to coordinate it, there is every reason to believe that these decisions will be implemented, and that Russia’s cooperation with African countries in many areas will yield new prospects, writes Vladimir Shubin.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/is-russia-returning-to-africa/

#Norms_and_Values #Africa #RussiaAfrica #RussiaAfricaSummit

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⛔️ Confiscation of Russian Assets: Politics vs. Law

On September 14, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation”, dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad. 

💬 Discussion moderator Ivan Timofeev noted that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets is now being actively discussed in the West. There is no mass practice of this kind yet, but appropriate legal mechanisms are gradually being created and these trends are also noticeable at the political level.

💬 Dmitry Timofeev, Director of the Department for Control of External Restrictions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, noted that the West did not dare to attempt to sharply isolate Russia, as had been expected after the start of the special military operation. Russia is too important for the world markets. A scenario where Russia would gradually be isolated is also unlikely: the problem of negative effects on the Western countries’ own economies remains and cannot be overcome by any political statements.

💬 Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, emphasised that there are still few real cases of confiscation and they are de facto marginal. “Apparently, a solution how to confiscate without breaking the entire structure of private property as an institution has not been found,” she said. In her opinion, the system will most likely continue to operate in the same spirit, mainly focusing on physical rather than financial assets. She emphasised that it is not only about institutions and the importance of Russia, but also about the fact that it is obvious to everyone: if confiscations affect Russia, China will be next. And in China’s case the scale of investment is much larger, and the retaliatory actions would be much more difficult to calculate.

💬 “Russia’s role in the global energy sector is too significant to throw it away with sanctions regimes and confiscations,” said Konstantin Simonov, Director General of the National Energy Security Fund, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. He noted that sanctions undermine the institution of private property and, accordingly, trust of the Global South in Western institutions and rules. Business, especially businesses with long investment cycles, cannot work like that, so it is probably waiting until they “start to push off from the bottom,” but politicians force them to “punch through the bottom” every time, the analyst admitted, noting that the “creativity” of regulators is likely to grow.

💬 Sergey Glandin, lawyer, partner of BGP Litigation commented on the situation around the European Commission’s clarifications regarding the import of personal belongings and vehicles into the EU by Russian citizens. According to him, what is happening shows the level of incompetence among EU authorities, who are entangled in their own anti-Russian policies and rhetoric. EU sanctions legislation (especially the eighth package of sanctions) is aimed at income from business activities, and attempts to apply it to confiscate property of individuals not intended for sale clearly contradict its spirit.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/confiscation-of-russian-assets-politics-vs-law/

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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🇦🇫 In practice, over the past two years, the Taliban has not fully satisfied either positive or negative expectations.

The Taliban did not abandon its principles. The movement considers itself a liberator of the country from foreign occupation. They are confident that they deserve victory and have the right to be in power. No constitution, no elections, no inclusivity (no coalition government with anyone who isn’t “our own”). The Taliban’s right to power stems from its ability to take and hold this power.

The Taliban has held out and has generally managed to control power. It cannot be said that the Taliban order in Afghanistan is something completely unusual in comparison with other countries. Afghanistan under the Taliban fits into the spectrum of global diversity. However, long-term problems still remain. 

The Americans left, but faith in their myths about the prospects for economic development and expectations of corresponding projects from foreigners have remained. In terms of belief in these American myths, the Taliban is no different from the leaders of the previous pro-American government. Moreover, the Taliban tends to ask their regional neighbours for the implementation of American myths, Ivan Safranchuk writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/two-years-after-the-return-of-the-taliban/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Afghanistan #Taliban

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🇹🇷 The new presidential term of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who won the elections on May 28, 2023, fully reflects the key trends in Turkey’s political transformation over the past decade.

📍The most noticeable is the large-scale and consistent consolidation in the hands of the president of monopoly control over all branches of power

📍The dismantling of institutional checks and balances on presidential power, both on the part of state institutions and civil society

📍Desecularisation of public life in Turkey in general, especially in the sphere of education  

📍The offensive foreign policy, with the deepening of its militarisation and de-Westernisation 

On the way to his third presidential term, Erdoğan faced the biggest political challenge of his career. The rapid economic growth that characterised his early years at the head of Turkey gave way to a long-term financial and economic crisis. The Turkish lira over the past five years has depreciated more than five sixths against the dollar and the euro, losing more than 38% in the aftermath of the elections. 

Erdoğan and his supporters will have to seriously prepare for the municipal elections in the spring of 2024, in which the AKP plans to regain control of the largest cities – the capitals Ankara and Istanbul, as well as Antalya.

The municipal elections scheduled for March 2024 will be another major electoral test for Erdoğan. The president considers them “decisive” and regards them as a kind of vote of confidence, Pavel Shlykov writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/erdogan-s-new-term-what-changes-in-turkish-policy/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Turkey #Erdoğan

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⏰ TODAY at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion dedicated to the technological gap between developed and developing countries, titled “How to Avoid Inequality in Access to the Digital Future.”

❓How can we overcome the digital divide?
❓Should poor countries expect help from rich countries in achieving digitalisation?
❓Or is it better to think about a coalition of developing countries that would resolve this problem, for example, through BRICS?

Participants in the discussion will try to 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, X (formerly Twitter), VKontakte, Telegram and Dzen.

#Norms_and_Values #digitalisation #technologicalgap #inequality
 
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🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 The XV BRICS Summit in Johannesburg held in August of this year sparked a wide range of expectations regarding its growing weight in the international system.

The Summit’s agenda foresaw two prominent issues to address.

🔹 On one hand, particularly due to movements in favour of using national currencies in trade and financial exchanges among group members and other nations of the Global South, the creation of a common currency to replace the U. S. dollar as the dominant currency appeared as key issues to be addressed.

🔹 On the other hand, the expansion of the bloc to a broader platform, taking into account the numerous requests for entry from countries in the Global South.

The geographical balance of the new additions to BRICS clearly illustrates this intention. However, just like the original group and the currently expanded BRICS+, they present heterogeneities and asymmetries that will likely pose challenges in the future for consensus-building, Andrés Serbin writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/brics-political-and-geopolitical-challenges-a-view/

#EconomicStatecraft #BRICS #BRICS2023 #GlobalSouth #LatinAmerica #Argentina

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🗺️ BRICS no longer exists: the time of BRICS+ has come.

From 2024 onwards, BRICS+ will account for 44.4% of the world population and for 37.3% of the world’s GDP, with its overall natural endowment capable of leading, as anticipated, to a world-challenging super-OPEC:

📍Home to 79% of the world’s aluminium output
📍77% of palladium production
📍75% of the world’s manganese
📍50% of its graphite
📍Approximately 50% of the world’s gas reserves
📍44.3% of the world’s oil reserves and 41% of oil production
📍More than 50% of global food production
📍38.8% of total global industrial production
📍Over 30% of the world’s nickel reserves
📍Four-fifths of all rare earth reserves
📍One-fifth of global lithium production
📍One-tenth of the world’s copper

Common energy considerations and long-term geo-economic goals (de-dollarisation) are the main driving reasons for the BRICS’ existence and its first enlargement, but (much) more is needed if the aspiring G7 rival hopes to win the battle for the de-Westernisation of the world.

To make this informal forum into a structured reality, one capable of withstanding bumps and games, a radical rethinking of its purposes and its current skeleton is needed, writes Emanuel Pietrobon.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-case-for-a-brics-academy/

#EconomicStatecraft #BRICS #BRICS2023

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UPD: The livestream is over. The video of the discussion is available via the same link. Stay tuned!

🎥 LIVE: at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion dedicated to the technological gap between developed and developing countries, titled “How to Avoid Inequality in Access to the Digital Future.”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239118

#Norms_and_Values #digitalisation #technologicalgap #inequality

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📷 On September 18, 2023, the Valdai Club will hosted a discussion dedicated to the technological gap between developed and developing countries, titled “How to Avoid Inequality in Access to the Digital Future.”

Photo gallery of the discussion is available in this album.

The video of the discussion is available via this link.

Stay tuned!

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⛓️💻 How to Overcome Digital Colonialism

On September 18, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “How to Avoid Inequality in Access to the Digital Future”, dedicated to the technological gap between developed and developing countries. 

💬 Oleg Barabanov, the moderator of the discussion, called digital inequality an extremely important topic and emphasised that this year the BRICS and G20 agenda was largely devoted to it.

💬 Igor Ashmanov, President of Kribrum JSC, Member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, pointed out that the digital divide is often understood as the difference in the access of ordinary users to certain digital technologies. Meanwhile, in his opinion, such access in itself should not be considered an unconditional benefit and the difference in it should not be presented as a key problem. More important, from Ashmanov’s point of view, is another aspect - the stratification between countries, and the lack of technology in developing countries.

💬 Arvind Gupta, Chairman and Co-founder of Digital India Foundation, spoke about India’s experience preventing “digital colonisation”. He emphasised that the Internet was created as a public technology, and not a technology over which only a few select parties should have control. It is important for India that it does not turn into an instrument of influence of certain countries or corporations, as happened at a certain moment. To prevent this from happening in the future, India is creating a public digital infrastructure.

💬 Jacques Sapir, Professor of Economics at the Paris Higher School of Social Sciences (EHESS) and Lomonosov Moscow State University, pointed out that in addition to the digital divide between countries, there is a digital divide inside countries. He noted that often, particularly in France at the moment, increases in the cost of living and decreases in income serve as an obstacle to the spread of digitalisation. Speaking about the gap at the country level, he emphasized the need to develop common rules for the whole world.

💬 Rasigan Maharajh, Chief Director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at the Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa), returned to the issue of the uneven distribution of science and technology around the world, recognising the serious imbalance between African countries and the rest of the world and the growing digital divide both between and within specific countries. A situation of neo-colonialism is created, when, despite formal sovereignty, state policy in many areas is actually controlled from abroad. To overcome this, he considers it necessary to work more actively at the BRICS+ level.

💬 Radhika Desai,Professor, Faculty of Political Studies, Director of the Geopolitical Economics Research Group, University of Manitoba (Canada), is confident that if current trends continue, the digital divide, which has been on the international agenda since the beginning of the 2000s, will increase. She compared the socio-economic consequences of insufficient access to digital technologies with those of illiteracy in the last century. She believes important aspects of this include providing the world with electricity and industrial development, as well as improving education, without which digital development is impossible.

💬 Konstantin Pantserev, Professor at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Faculty of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University, analysed the relationship between the concepts of technological sovereignty and the digital divide. According to him, digital technology was and is perceived by African countries as a key tool for economic development. As a result, almost the entire ICT industry of the continent came under the control of Western businesses.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/how-to-overcome-digital-colonialism/

#Norms_and_Values #digitalisation #technologicalgap #inequality

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🌍 In recent years, African countries have begun to make significant efforts to solve the problem of inadequate training.

For this purpose, modern scientific and educational centres have been established in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and some other African countries. However, it is clear that they are not able to meet the demand for highly qualified personnel, as the shortage affects the whole continent. As a result, many promising young professionals are often forced to leave the continent in order to receive a high-quality technical education; not all of them come back.

Russia is extremely interested in making education accessible to Africans. Today, according to various estimates, about 35,000 students from Africa study at Russian universities. In order to make education in Russia more accessible to students from Africa, the Russian-African Network University was created in August 2021, in which 12 Russian universities participate.

Today, the transition to a modern innovative economy with the use of advanced technologies is a key task for African countries. In order to ensure this transition, human capital is required, namely, highly qualified specialists, primarily technical specialties, who are trained by the leading universities and schools of the world, Konstantin Pantserev writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/training-highly-qualified-personnel-for-africa/

#Norms_and_Values #Africa #highereducation

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🗣 #VALDAI2023: The 20th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “Fair Multipolarity: How to Ensure Security and Development for Everyone” will be held in Sochi on October 2–5, 2023.
 
🗺️ The meeting will be attended by 140 experts, politicians and diplomats from 42 countries throughout Eurasia, Africa, North and South America. Traditionally, at the Annual Valdai Meeting, the majority of guests are foreign participants.
 
In recent years, the reports of the Valdai Club have analysed in detail the dynamics of changes in the world order — first the crisis, and then the dismantling of the old world. The breakdown of the previous system of international relations has already occurred. The concept of multipolarity has sprung into life. This year, participants will try to produce an image of the new world: for example, what it will be like by the beginning of the next decade.
 
Amid the new conditions, the international architecture should be discussed, including in the context of the BRICS transformation. The countries of the community have opted for a model of its further development through enlargement. The association itself attracts those who do not follow the Western model of development or share its common principles and “universal” values, choosing instead to adhere to their own interests and traditions. The Valdai Discussion Club is closely following this trend and will devote the first session of the Annual Meeting to it.

Structurally, the programme is divided into several thematic blocks: each day will be devoted to one broad topic — politics, economics or humanitarian issues. Over the four days of the Valdai Club Annual Meeting, 17 sessions will be held, at which the following issues will be discussed:

🔹 The role of nuclear weapons and the danger of nuclear war;
🔹 Food security and Russia’s contribution;
🔹 The world economy without a currency monopoly or punitive measures;
🔹 Russian economy, society and culture in an era of transformation;
🔹 Energy markets against the backdrop of military-political tensions;
🔹 Science and education in an era of confrontation.
 
In the emerging world, Russia is positioning itself as a unique state-civilization that has absorbed both Western culture and Eastern traditions. This conceptual basis of modern Russian foreign policy will be reflected in the programme of the Annual Meeting. For the first time, the forum features a session titled “Russian Civilization Through the Centuries”.

📑 The opening session of the 20th Meeting will feature the presentation of the Valdai Club Annual Report. Its authors try to present an image of the future world and bring their findings to the discussion of the entire forum.

Despite the changed geopolitical conditions, the Valdai Club Annual Meeting promises to become one of the most representative ones in recent years. The Forum is closer than ever to its main goal: to gather an audience that, in the words of the Club’s Research Director Fyodor Lukyanov, would be “a cast of the whole world”.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/fair-multipolarity-how-to-ensure-security-and-development-for-all-the-20th-annual-meeting-of-the-val/
 
Working languages: Russian, English.
 
ℹ️ Information for the media: Dear journalists, in order to be accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website. If you have any questions about the event, call +7 926 930 77 63.

A link to the live broadcast of open sessions will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VKontakte, Telegram and Dzen.

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🗣 Dear friends! This is a reminder that the Valdai Discussion Club is present on the following social media platforms:

🇬🇧 In English:

🌐 Telegram

🌐 VK

🌐 X (formerly Twitter)


🇷🇺 In Russian:

🌐 Telegram

🌐 X (formerly Twitter)

🌐 VK

🔹 Dzen

Stay tuned!

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🇷🇺🇮🇷 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.

1️⃣ The first factor is the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that was implemented on October 27, 2019, offering lower tariffs on 862 commodity types, of which 502 are Iranian exports to the EAEU. “This agreement significantly increased the trade volume between Iran and the member countries of the Union, including Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

2️⃣ The second factor in the continuation of unilateral US sanctions against Iran is in the administration of Joe Biden. In particular, the SWIFT embargo against Iran has remained a serious obstacle for international banking transactions. These conditions would push Iran towards “barter transactions” in trade and bank transactions with “national currencies”, especially with its neighbours, including Iraq (dinar) and Russia (ruble). It is clear that the bank exchange in rubles and rials between Iran and Russia and the elimination of the dollar requires the creation of a new banking mechanism between the two countries. 

3️⃣ The third factor is the new policies and approach of Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi, that declared a “Neighbourhood Policy” and “Economic Diplomacy” to be his administration’s top two foreign policy objectives. In this context, expanding relations with neighbouring countries Russia and China, upgrading the PTA to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Iran and the EAEU, Iran’s full membership in the SCO and efforts to join BRICS would strengthen it.

4️⃣ The fourth factor is the conflict in Ukraine and the extensive related Western sanctions against Russia. In particular, “in late February 2022, a large coalition of states, including EU members, the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, agreed to ban several Russian banks from SWIFT with the intent of economically isolating Russia and crippling its financial system,” according to Euronews. Under these circumstances, Moscow tried to expand the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS) to its BRICS partners, the EEU, the SCO and other countries it had maintained normal diplomatic ties with. In this endeavour, Moscow found a willing partner in Iran.  

The meetings, negotiations and agreements between Iran and Russia in recent years clearly show the will and decision of the two countries to develop financial and banking cooperation, writes Vali Kaleji.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/banking-cooperation-between-iran-and-russia-capaci/

#ModernDiplomacy #Iran

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