🇺🇸🇻🇪 For a long time, Washington has consistently increased sanctions pressure against the government of Nicolas Maduro. Subsequently, the sanctions continued to increase.

Signs of changes began to appear in 2022. In November 2022, following an agreement on negotiations between the government of Nicolas Maduro and the opposition on the 2024 elections, the United States began to reduce sanctions pressure. The US Treasury issued two general licenses that introduced some exceptions to the sanctions regime.

 In addition, the US is interested in the world market gaining access to Venezuelan oil, taking into account the ban of supplies from Russia and uncertainty in the energy market due to political factors. At the same time, easing sanctions has its own nuances.

The question is how long-term such a mitigation can last, and what similar US actions in relation to other target states tell us, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/us-sanctions-against-venezuela-a-temporary-easing/

#EconomicStatecraft #Venezuela #sanctions

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🇨🇺 Cuba is one of the most important countries in the world; one of the few that can really disturb the sleep of the United States.

Geography makes this island geostrategic and whoever wants to challenge the United States must set foot on it. Dividing Cuba and the United States is a strip of sea that can be flown over in just one hour by plane, which means that the island is the perfect staging ground for  challenging the latter.

Geographical proximity can be a political advantage as well as a political risk, which is why the United States has historically gone to great lengths to gain control of this small island. 

Cuba has a role to play in the current hegemonic struggle between the West and the Rest. Russia and the BRICS should take advantage of its geostrategic and geopolitical position and act accordingly – Cuba's salvation might mean the Multipolar Transition's culmination, writes Emanuel Pietrobon, geopolitical analyst, political consultant and author from Italy.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-strategic-importance-of-cuba/

#EconomicStatecraft #Cuba #geopolitics

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🛢️ The current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has renewed a talk of the possibility of a new energy crisis.

After a rocket attack on the Al-Ahli Al-Maadani hospital, located in the Gaza Strip, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian called on the authorities of Islamic countries to introduce an oil embargo against Israel. Turkey also stated that all energy projects with Israel must be suspended, but the main oil supplies to Israel from Azerbaijan via a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan still continue. Later, a similar statement was made  by Secretary General of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah.

On November 11 and 12, at the extraordinary summit of the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, held by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune urged the use oil of and the economic opportunities provided by Arab countries to exert pressure to stop the conflict, as part of a plan to counter Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip.

All these proposals were rejected, since they would not have led to tangible results. Even if the OIC countries imposed an embargo, oil supplies to Israel would be compensated by the United States. 

The current escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict demonstrates the lack of unity among Arab and Islamic countries on the issue of pressure on Israel and its Western allies.

Although the conflict is still escalating in intensity, primary analysis shows the reluctance of the countries in the region to use “oil weapons” due to their ineffectiveness and high risks for the economy and political stability of the initiators themselves, write Igbal Adil Oglu Guliyev and Murad Saleh oglu Sadygzade.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/oil-crisis-50-years-on-history-repeats-itself/

#EconomicStatecraft #MiddleEast #oil

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 30 at 12:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Technological war between the USA and China: implications for the world and Russia”. It is timed to coincide with the release of the new Valdai Club report “US Technology Policy Amid Rivalry With China”.

Today the world is experiencing another round of the fourth industrial revolution and the emergence of a new technological structure. Progress in the field of high technology is obvious. Supercomputers have surpassed the historic milestone of 1 exaflop (1 quintillion operations per second). Modern microelectronics consist of chips with 3-nm (nanometre) processing technology. Excitement about the capabilities of artificial intelligence is giving way to fears for the future of humanity.

The world has reached a new milestone thanks to the global division of labour. Relations between China and the United States have played a significant role in technological development. However, today cooperation between the two powers is curtailed. Technonationalism is returning to the forefront. Although the American and Chinese positions are almost equal in the race for technological leadership, the United States is doing everything to remain at the top of the hi-tech industry.

❓What is the optimal strategy for Russia in a technology race?
❓What are the features of the United States’ modern technology policy? How vulnerable is it?
❓What methods does the American leadership use in its technological confrontation with China?
❓Is bipolarity possible in the high technology sector?

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

🎙️ Speakers:

🇷🇺 Anastasia Tolstukhina, Ph.D., programme manager and editor of the RIAC website

🇷🇺 Ruslan Yunusov, co-founder of the Russian Quantum Centre

🇫🇷 Jacques Sapir, professor of economics at the Paris Higher School of Social Sciences (EHESS) and Lomonosov Moscow State University

Moderator:

🗣 Ivan Timofeev, programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-club-to-discuss-the-technological-war-between-the-usa-and-china/

Working languages: Russian and English

ℹ️ Information for the media: Dear journalists, in order to be accredited for the event, 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.

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

#EconomicStatecraft #technology #UnitedStates #China

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 Today, a new technological paradigm is emerging, shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, robotics, cloud technology, supercomputing systems, and various advanced forms of technology capable of automating numerous processes, boosting productivity, and creating fundamentally new products.

Similar to past industrial revolutions that introduced labour saving appliances and widespread use of electric power and IT, the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is poised to exert a profound influence on various social processes. The leader in this technological revolution will wield significant influence in global politics and the economy.

Not too long ago, a new industrial and innovation-driven powerhouse emerged on the technological map of the world. Now, China has started to challenge the technological dominance of the United States and is determined to vie for leadership in the technological race.

Despite the unprecedented interdependence and interconnectedness of the world, the latest twist in the technological revolution has witnessed a decoupling between the United States and China. This separation is adversely affecting the entire global technological network that has been painstakingly built over the past several decades.

The goal of the United States is to restrain the technological advancement of its primary competitor in the hi-tech industry, particularly since technology factor literally permeates the ongoing geopolitical standoff between the two countries.

A new Valdai Club report “US Technology Policy Amid Rivalry With China” analyses the potential of the US technological platform, the specifics and problems of the current US technology policy,9 Washington’s strategies in dealing with its Chinese competitor, the risks associated with technological decoupling from China, and autonomy-related limitations of emerging techno-economic blocs.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/reports/us-technology-policy-amid-rivalry-with-china/

📍 The presentation of the Report will take place today, November 30, at 12:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3). Watch the live broadcast on our website.

#EconomicStatecraft #valdai_report #technology #UnitedStates #China

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

🎥 LIVE: At 12:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “Technological war between the USA and China: implications for the world and Russia”. It is timed to coincide with the release of the new Valdai Club report “US Technology Policy Amid Rivalry With China”.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239152

#EconomicStatecraft #valdai_report #technology #UnitedStates #China

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 Technological Conflict Between the US and China: A Politics Devours the Economy

On November 30, 2023, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion titled “The Technological War between the USA and China: Implications for the World and Russia”, which was timed to coincide with the release of the new Valdai Club report “US Technology Policy Amid Rivalry With China”.

💬 Discussion moderator Ivan Timofeev described the global trend towards the sovereignisation of technology platforms as being “consumed” by the politics of economic rationality, and suggested that we will continue to observe a gap between key partners in the technology sector, primarily between the United States and China.

💬 Anastasia Tolstukhina, the author of the report, briefly outlined its conclusions. She noted that technology policy is now being intensified and rethought in the United States. Now the state is purposefully intervening in the technology sector and is allocating huge investments to the development of key areas, particularly microelectronics. Tolstukhina named the main objectives of American tech policy as the production of chips in the United States, “friendshoring”, curbing China’s technological development through sanctions, and the creation of technological alliances. However, this policy has its own vulnerabilities.

💬 Ruslan Yunusov, co-founder of the Russian Quantum Centre, suggested that the United States had realised it too late: for a long time, it was profitable for the Americans to use Chinese production power, and when Washington decided to pursue a policy change, it turned out that it would no longer be possible to easily transfer production. He pointed out that many scientists in China were educated in the West, but now the United States is blocking cooperation in the scientific and educational field, and is trying to extend its new stance to all Western countries. This trend opens up great opportunities for Russia.

💬 Jacques Sapir,  professor of economics at the Paris Higher School of Social Sciences (EHESS) and Lomonosov Moscow State University, sees the return of politics to the economy in the conflict between the United States and China. The other side of what is happening, according to Sapir, is the economic war; he considers this to be a struggle for the restoration of economic sovereignty. During this war, a wide range of tools are being used: from purely economic measures and legislative prohibitions to industrial espionage and manipulation of information. As a result, a wall of antagonism arises between rival countries, which also leads to the destruction of global scientific cooperation. Meanwhile, the crisis affects all countries, including those not directly involved in the conflict.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/technological-conflict-between-the-us-and-china-a-politics-devours-the-economy/

#EconomicStatecraft #valdai_report #technology #UnitedStates #China

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🇮🇱🇺🇸 For Israel, it is US support that forms one of the foundations for the acquisition and modernisation of weapons.

Despite the periodic political controversy in the United States surrounding the provision of military aid to Israel, it is quite easy for American politicians to lobby for it on economic grounds, given that the money actually stays in the country, strengthening its defence industry.

In Israel, circumstances are the opposite, since local companies not only risk being limited in their production capabilities and, as a result, hiring of personnel, but are also deprived of the opportunity to make a truly significant contribution to ensuring the defence capability of the state and its positioning in the international arena, Elizaveta Yakimova wirtes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/all-possible-assistance-the-impact-of-american/

#EconomicStatecraft #Israel #UnitedStates

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