🎥 LIVE: at 12:00 noon Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the Valdai Paper “Russia-Africa: Overcoming Challenges”.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239227

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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🌍 The Third African Boom and Its Challenges

On November 18, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of an analytical Paper titled “Russia – Africa: Overcoming Difficulties”. 

💬 Oleg Barabanov, the moderator of the discussion, noted that relations between Russia and Africa are currently on the rise. Russia works with African countries in many areas, including political dialogue, economic cooperation, and cultural and humanitarian ties.

💬 The author, Vladimir Shubin, chief researcher at the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary doctor of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), lauded the Russia – Africa summit and conference of foreign ministers which was held in Sochi this month, saying “things are not just announced, but also done.” Speaking about the history of Russian-African relations, he pointed out that Russia never really left Africa, but in the 1990s, economic and cultural cooperation suffered greatly. Today, Shubin emphasised, it is not only a matter of memory, but also of serious economic opportunities and similar positions on international issues. Our ties persist despite considerable pressure.

💬 Sanusha Naidu, Senior Research Fellow at the South African Institute for Global Dialogue, briefly outlined some of the problems in relations between Russia and South Africa. It should be noted that relations with the West are still important for South Africa, and this affects the way political science and history are taught there. Despite this, according to Naidu, there is an interesting dynamic in relations with Russia. “We have common goals,” she is convinced.

💬 Aliou Tounkara, President of the Russian House in Mali, pointed out that Russia is a strategic partner for his country, relations with which will definitely continue to develop. The Soviet Union once played a key role in helping Mali gain independence, and the republic has a strong memory of cooperation with it. We should not forget about humanitarian aid from the Russian Federation, as well as educational and cultural cooperation, which remain highly significant.

💬 Dareskedar Taye, Leading Researcher at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, noted that Russian-African relations are determined primarily by the dynamics emanating from Russia. During the Cold War, ties between Russia and Africa were close, but after that, there was a certain decline in relations due to political changes. Now Russia is reconsidering its role on the global stage, and against this background interaction is intensifying again.

💬 Alexander Balezin, Chief Researcher at the Central Asia Institute, at the World History Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that we are currently experiencing a third African boom. At the same time, Russian society has relatively poor knowledge of the African continent. “We need to spread information about Africa more widely,” the expert said.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/the-third-african-boom-and-its-challenges/

#GlobalAlternatives #Africa #RussiaAfrica

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🌎 What is the best collective name for the so-called ‘Developed World’? 

It has names for itself; its economists speak of the Advanced or Industrialised nations and its politicians the ‘Free World’ or even the ‘Civilized world’.

The rest of us have other names, not all polite: Collective West, Global North, Hegemonists, Globalists, to name but a few. Some, perhaps waking up to the new realities, are starting to speak of the global periphery. This is an interesting inversion, but may be a bit premature.

The Valdai Club has done a great service by using the name ‘World Majority’ to describe everyone outside this exclusive club. It is time to name the club itself.

Alan Freeman proposes a name that accords both with where it comes from, and with what it does. That name is ‘the Columbian Nations’.

The Columbian dream is not a rational construction. It is a myth system: a rational ordering of facts whose function is not to cope with reality but to sustain a system of domination. Its core, to quote its author Plato, is the ‘Noble Lie’ that the wealthy are born superior. The truth is that their wealth was created by others.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/naming-the-world-minority/

#GlobalAlternatives #West

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🎥 LIVE: at 4:00 pm Moscow time, the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion dedicated to the end of Brazil's presidency and the beginning of South Africa's presidency of the G20.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239240

#GlobalAlternatives #G20 #Brazil #SouthAfrica

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🌐 Amid Geopolitical Tensions: Will the G20 Keep the Global South Agenda?

On December 12, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the end of Brazil’s presidency in the G20 and the beginning of South Africa’s presidency. Moderator Oleg Barabanov noted that Brazil’s year brought serious, qualitative changes. He proposed to discuss its results and plans for the next year.

💬 Marco Fernandes, editor of Wenhua Zongheng International, called the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro a major diplomatic victory for Brazil. He emphasized that Brazil had achieved a lot in terms of the agenda. Fernandes believes that the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is the most important initiative, because, according to FAO, 733 million people on the planet still suffer from hunger, although humanity produces much more food than it needs. “This is essentially a crime,” the analyst said. Against this background, questions arise about the credibility of the G7, whose projects for the development of the countries of the Global South are proclaimed with much fanfare, but quickly fizzle out.

💬 Mikatekiso Kubayi, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD) at UNISA, presented a view from South Africa. He pointed out the need to ensure continuity with Brazil and consistency of approaches. Speaking about South Africa’s plans, he noted that such areas as the fight against climate change, the fight against inequality, food security, reform of international organizations and global trade infrastructure, digital transformation and investment are especially important for it as an African country.

💬 Marina Larionova, Director of the Center for International Institutions Studies at RANEPA and Russia’s Sherpa in the Think 20 (T20), sees a significant achievement for Brazil in making another step towards depoliticizing the G20 documents. As a result, the problem of geopolitical confrontation remained outside the final document of the summit, which made it possible to formulate a constructive approach. She believes that Brazil has contributed to the consolidation of the influence of developing countries in the G20 and the strengthening of the G20 as a platform for economic cooperation.

💬 Viktoria Panova, Head of the BRICS Expert Council Centre, Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia’s Sherpa in the Women’s Twenty (W20) noted as a positive moment that the G20 has been led by countries of the Global South for the past three years and the next chairman is also one of them. The question is whether real resources and finances will be behind the big promises. The G20 is important because it continues to bring together the BRICS+, the G7 and the growing regional powers. From this perspective, the value of the group is unconditional, she stressed, making clear that “at least some dialogue is taking place here,” unlike many other venues.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/amid-geopolitical-tensions-will-the-g20-keep-the-global-south-agenda/

#GlobalAlternatives #G20 #Brazil #SouthAfrica

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🇫🇷 The fall of Barnier: farewell to Macronism or return of Napoleon III?

The victory of Parliament over the Barnier Government seems to open the final chapter of the Macronist regime.

The terrifying context of a likely war of the EU against Russia for the Ukraine with French troops being sent on the Russian front is less a danger than an option to the French Europeanist tyrant: he can use it as a tool to unite the French political system around him, Olivier Roqueplo writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-fall-of-barnier-farewell-to-macronism/

#GlobalAlternatives #France #Macron

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🌐 To assess the foreign policy preferences of potential BRICS partners, it is interesting to look at their voting in the UN General Assembly.

It is clear that their results should not be taken as absolutes, and the real political practice of states is not limited to voting results and is not determined by them.

But these votes are also symbolically quite important, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/political-positions-brics-partner-countries/

#GlobalAlternatives #BRICS

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💸 The financialized dollar system has increased international inequality massively.

Here is an incomplete list of the ways it has:

▪️ It systematically undervalues World Majority currencies, allowing dollar holders to buy World Majority products and services dirt cheap.

▪️ It rests on persistent imbalances. They spell underdevelopment as no systemic imperative either imposes self-sufficiency or addresses un-competitiveness.

▪️ It offers World Majority governments and firms credit, at usurious interest rates, not when they need it but only when dollar creditors need to lend, usually not counter-cyclically but pro-cyclically.
They have induced debt crises when western monetary authorities have increased interest rates, as in the 1980s and again today.

In the debt restructurings that follow, the principle of creditor responsibility is erased by the IMF and the World Bank who act exclusively as bailiffs for western financial institutions, resulting in the nefarious reverse capital flows through which poor countries have repaid many times the debt they originally contracted, imposing economic retardation on millions.

The dollar system requires the lifting of capital controls to free capital flows which transfer of even more wealth from World Majority countries to the core capitalist countries as the rich transfer wealth to evade taxes at home and to participate in the speculative activity that abounds in the dollar denominated international financial system.

The system has diverted investment from production to speculation, weakening development efforts, writes Radhika Desai.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-dollar-system-the-world-s-most-powerful/

#GlobalAlternatives #dollar #dedollarisation

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