🗽 We are at the beginning of a major confrontation involving several fronts, and our task is to use our own resources wisely.

The Americans have a long history of redefining the goals of their military involvement in a number of crises: from the grandiose — democratisation of Iraq, transformation of the Middle East, etc., to a reasonable scale. As the commander in Iraq David Petraeus formulated it in 2006, the US goal was no longer to build a “Jeffersonian democracy”, but to create conditions for the withdrawal of troops so that it would not look like a defeat.

Washington’s goal in Ukraine — from a grand defeat, the “decolonization of Russia”, and creating conditions for internal upheaval — may gradually begin to shift to an attempt to end the confrontation in a way that does not look like a defeat, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-us-presidential-election-and-the-dilemmas/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 China has firmly integrated into the American-centric model of globalisation, but unlike most other countries, it has been able to maintain its sovereignty and prevent the United States from influencing its domestic political processes.

China's economic rise has led to the strengthening of its technological, industrial, and military capabilities. Sooner or later, such growth was bound to become a problem for the United States. The presidency of Donald Trump in 2016-2020 was a period when a visible shift occurred in American policy towards China. 

Trump changed the approach to China both at the doctrinal level and at the level of practical policy. In doctrinal terms, Trump exacerbated all the comments that were previously made about the PRC in a cautious and delicate manner: China is an authoritarian country with a communist regime that has little in common with American values. The rise of the PRC is a problem and a challenge for the United States. China's overseas projects, such as the Belt and Road project, are a means of economic expansion for the Celestial Empire that must be contained.

The Biden administration was much more restrained in its anti-Chinese rhetoric. However, it did not change the structure of sanctions pressure on China. The problems that generated the sanctions were not resolved.

In the end, both Trump and Harris, if they win, will continue the course of containing China. However, Trump's performance will be more aggressive and assertive, writes Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/trump-or-harris-does-it-matter-for-china/

#Multipolarity_and_Connectivity #UnitedStates #China #Trump #Harris

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On September 19 at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Elections in the USA: What Awaits Ukraine?”

The United States presidential elections, which will be held in November, are especially significant. Political polarisation in the country has reached a critical point. If a few years ago the peak of this process was an attempt to seize the Congress building by force, this year we witnessed an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.

Amid domestic political contradictions, material problems are also accumulating: the infrastructure is deteriorating, the railway industry is facing difficulties, external debt is growing, migration policy is stalling, and inflation remains high.

Problems in foreign policy are also multiplying. The discussion about China presenting a key challenge to American influence is becoming more active, but the Ukrainian conflict also remains in sight.

❓Republicans and Democrats disagree on many issues, but how different are their positions really?
❓How can US foreign policy change? Will it change at all?
❓What scenario awaits Ukraine after the American elections?

The participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

🎙️ Speakers:

🔹 Dimitri Simes, Channel One host, founder and former president of The Center for the National Interest (USA)

🔹 Sergey Kislitsyn, Acting Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences

🔹 Ivan Safranchuk, Director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies, MGIMO University

🔹 Vladimir Pechatnov, Professor at the Department of History and Politics of European and American Countries,  MGIMO University

Moderator:

🗣 Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-club-to-discuss-the-us-presidential-elections-and-future-of-ukraine/

Working languages: Russian, English.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our web site. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen. 

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine

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⏰ TODAY at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Elections in the USA: What Awaits Ukraine?”

❓Republicans and Democrats disagree on many issues, but how different are their positions really?
❓How can US foreign policy change? Will it change at all?
❓What scenario awaits Ukraine after the American elections?

The participants in the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen. 

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine

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🎥 LIVE: at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting an expert discussion, titled “Elections in the USA: What Awaits Ukraine?”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239206

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine

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🗣 On September 19, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “Elections in the USA: What Awaits Ukraine?”

📷 Photo gallery

🎥 Video

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine

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🇺🇸 High-Stakes Elections: Foreign and Domestic Policy Dimensions of the US Presidential Campaign

On September 19, 2024, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “Elections in the USA: What Awaits Ukraine?”

💬 Moderator Andrey Sushentsov noted that the American presidential elections scheduled for November 5 are of concern to most countries throughout the world, and will affect many areas of international life. For Vladimir Zelensky and his entourage, it is especially important who will lead the United States. The Ukrainian government is trying to adapt to any scenario.

💬 Sergey Kislitsyn, Acting Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences, analysed the economic dimension of the upcoming elections. He emphasised that the recent reduction in the key rate by the Federal Reserve, which occurred for the first time since 2020, shows that the Biden administration is generally coping with economic policy, including the inflation problem and job creation. At the same time, the Biden administration has acted taking into account the fact that the Republicans could take the White House and embrace more aggressive forms of protectionism that destroy relations with European partners, and therefore created not trade agreements, but rather platforms for cooperation that Trump will probably not destroy. 

💬 Vladimir Pechatnov, professor of the Department of History and Politics of European and American Countries at MGIMO, believes that the current elections stand out from preceding ones in terms of volatility, but in themselves do not contain anything revolutionary. Nevertheless, the election campaign can serve as an indicator of deeper changes in American society. However, the outcome of the vote is not yet clear: the gap between the candidates is still small and Kamala Harris has too many weaknesses that Donald Trump can exploit.

💬 Ivan Safranchuk, Director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies at the MGIMO Institute, opined that hopes that the US position on Ukraine will change in the event of a Republican victory are largely misleading. Donald Trump apparently has no feasible plan for the Ukrainian crisis and his approach is rather dictated by a rejection of the current administration’s policies. The basis of the Trump team’s idea apparently assumes a “draw” and fixation of the situation along the line of contact between combatants. However, according to Safranchuk, a conflict of such intensity, scale and dynamics cannot end like that – there must be a loser.

💬 Dimitri Simes, Channel One host, founder and former president of The Center for the National Interest (USA), contended that  the seriousness of what is happening around the elections is not to be underestimated, despite the exaggerated accusations and fears on both sides. "Undoubtedly, the stakes are very, very high," he emphasised. Simes pointed to the colossal level of mutual distrust between Republicans and Democrats, which will inevitably continue after the elections.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/high-stakes-elections-foreign-and-domestic-policy-dimensions-of-the-us-presidential-campaign/

#Return_of_Diplomacy #UnitedStates #Ukraine

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1️⃣0⃣0⃣ On October 1, the 39th US President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 100th birthday.

In our opinion, this ex-president personifies a very interesting and, judging by some details, irretrievable bygone era.

An era from which lessons can be learned. Especially if we look back at the turning point, the year 1979, writes Roman Reinhardt.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/jimmy-carter-as-the-symbol-of-a-vanished-era/

#GlobalAlternatives #JimmyCarter #UnitedStates

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