📆 EEF-2021: The Valdai Discussion Club will take part in the Eastern Economic Forum for the fifth time. On September 2, at 10:00 AM Vladivostok time (GMT+10), a session of the Club, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”, will take place.

During all previous years, the focus of the Valdai Club’s attention at the EEF was related to Russia’s pivot to the East. Today, this pivot can be considered a fait accompli and we can confidently state that Russia is present in the Asian region. That is why the Club’s session at the EEF is centred not on Russia’s presence in Asia as such, but on the quality of this presence.

The pandemic year has significantly adjusted the external conditions for the development of the Far East and the Arctic region and their integration into the world economy. There were both positive factors — an increase in continental trade and interconnectedness in Eurasia, and negative ones — new non-tariff restrictions, barriers to international mobility. All these factors must be taken into account in the discussion of practical issues affecting regional development. The Club intends to make an analytical “update” of the state of the economy and politics in the Far East and Asia through the prism of Russian interests and capabilities.

❓The main goal of the session is to find an answer to the question: what new external factors need to be taken into account at the present stage of development of the Far East and the Arctic region?

👥 The guests of the Valdai session are high-ranking politicians, representatives of big business, and intellectuals specialising in political and economic processes in the Asia-Pacific region.

Andrei Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, will make an opening speech at the beginning of the session.

🎙Speakers:

🇷🇺 Alexei Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic (online)

🇳🇴 Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway

🇯🇵 Atsushi Sunami, President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

🇦🇺 Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia (2007-2010, 2013), President of the Asia Society Policy Institute

🇷🇺 Vyacheslav Ruksha, Deputy Director of ROSATOM; Director for the Northern Sea Route (NSR) Directorate of ROSATOM

🇷🇺 Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District (online)

Moderator:

🚩 Timofei Bordachev, Programne Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Academic Supervisor of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Working languages: Russian, English.

📍Venue: Vladivostok, Far Eastern Federal University, Building B, Conference Hall No. 6.

Entrance to the event is free to EEF participants and journalists accredited at the Forum.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/the-valdai-club-s-session-at-the-eastern-economic-forum-2021/

🇷🇺🌏 For Russia, the “turn to the East” is a serious and long-term affair.

“Russia’s pivot to the East” was originally inspired by both geostrategic and practical considerations. In geostrategic terms, the absolute dependence of Russia on trade and other economic ties to Europe became unacceptable immediately after Russia was able to overcome the consequences of the internal shocks which followed the geopolitically catastrophic collapse of the USSR.

In the East, has a huge population, which is rapidly increase their consumption potential. Developing Siberia, and especially the Far East, is the most reliable way to strengthen the integrity and cohesion of the vast Russian state in its entirety. New opportunities to realise this potential became apparent 10 years ago, when the economic development of Asian countries acquired a new quality, allowing people to talk about the region not only as a "workshop of the world", but also as a "consumer of the world". Utilising this practical opportunity is no less important than the geostrategic basis of the “pivot to the East”.

In the phrase “Russia's pivot to the East” the key word is Russia, where internal development through the use of new opportunities in Asia is a national priority, writes Timofei Bordachev, Programne Director of the Valdai Club and a moderator of Valdai Club's session at the Eastern Economic Forum.

📌 The session, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”, will take place on September 2, at 10:00 AM Vladivostok time (GMT+10).

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/turn-to-the-east-and-the-new-world-geopolitics/

💉 A situation is emerging where vaccination has been transformed from a private choice into a mobilisation tool of the state to combat the pandemic.

Over the past month, more and more countries have begun to announce mandatory vaccination against coronavirus for certain segments of the population, usually associated with certain professions. As a rule, those obliged to get vaccinated work in management, the service sector (food, trade, transport), etc. Also, in many cases, compulsory vaccination has affected higher education — both teachers and students. To what extent this measure violates human rights (the right to work, the right to education, the right to an informed choice in the field of health care) is debatable and complex, although in fact, it’s a simple question. Obviously there is a violation. The essence of the matter is only in the balance between the interests of the whole society and/or the state, on the one hand, and human rights, on the other.

There are different lists of approved vaccines in different countries, which do not always coincide with each other. Accordingly, the world has not developed a homogeneous global vaccine space from a legal point of view. This has already found its reflection in vaccine passports, and in introducing them, states recognise some vaccines and do not recognise others.

Another aspect of the same problem has been the dramatic changes to the visa and entry policies of a number of states. This has a serious negative impact on the restoration of global mobility, both in the tourism and business sectors and in the cross-border labor market, as it discourages foreign workers from entering or returning to the country where they used to work.

Accordingly, the vaccine is becoming an instrument of restrictive migration policy, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

#Morality_and_Law #vaccination

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/mandatory-identification-and-human-rights/

🇺🇸🇷🇺 If there is one lesson to take from the Cold War it is that even when bilateral relations are most strained everyone benefits from continued communication.

The dialogue, which was announced following a summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 16th June, has been seen as an important first step in addressing a growing range of national and global security concerns held by both parties, and to hopefully lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.

What is hoped is that these high-level meetings will help to address the most pressing national security concerns, explore possibilities for arms control and thus hopefully prevent a future arms race and conflict, writes Andrew Futter, Professor of International Politics, University of Leicester, UK. Professor Futter’s work is currently funded by the European Research Council.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/us-russia-strategic-stability-dialogue-why/

#Conflict_and_Leadership #US #Russia @valdai_club

🇷🇺👉🌏 In recent years, the turn to the East, or pivot to Asia, has been one of the most popular topics in the Russian political and media discourse.

Assessments of this process vary: some consider it a long-overdue necessity and a chance for Russia to increase its competitiveness in the 21st century. Others think this project is a product of Moscow policymakers and does not take into account the real needs of Russians residing in the Asian parts of the country.

Asia’s changing role and its importance in terms of Russia's development are recognised and reflected at the highest level. In 2012, in his election article, “’Russia and the Changing World’ Vladimir Putin wrote about catching the “Chinese wind” in the “sails” of the Russian economy. The eternal question of Russian identity, “who are we?” was overshadowed by a new imperative: “to be closer to Asia to be competitive in the 21st century”. As we will see below, this has not put an end to the discussion of identity.

Russia’s turn to the East is built up from two components: the establishment of increasingly deeper and more active relations with the countries of East Asia and the development of the eastern regions of the country during this process, writes Anton Bespalov, valdaiclub.com Deputy Editor-in-Chief.

📌 We will discuss this and other issues within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum. The Valdai Club session, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”, will take place on September 2, at 10:00 AM Vladivostok time (GMT+10).

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russia-s-turn-to-the-east-expectations-and-the-rea/

@valdai_club #EEF2021 #EEF

📆 Tomorrow, on September 2, the Valdai Club will take part in the Eastern Economic Forum for the fifth time.

A session of the Club, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic” will start at 10:00 AM Vladivostok time (GMT+10)/ 3:00 AM Moscow time (GMT+3). The live broadcast of the session will be available on our website.

❓The main goal of the session is to find an answer to the question: what new external factors need to be taken into account at the present stage of development of the Far East and the Arctic region?

👥 The guests of the Valdai session are high-ranking politicians, representatives of big business, and intellectuals specialising in political and economic processes in the Asia-Pacific region.

https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/valdai-club-session-at-the-eef-2021/

#EEF #EEF2021 @valdai_club

📷 © Sputnik/Vitaliy Ankov

🌏🧊🌐 The Far East and the Arctic in a New Global Context

Almost ten years ago, Russia declared the development of the Far East a national priority for the 21st century.

On Thursday, September 2, within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Valdai Discussion Club held a special session, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”.

Despite the complexity and multifaceted nature of this task, the "pivot to the East" policy is bearing fruit: it is not the first year that the pace of development of the region has outperformed the average for Russia. However, over the years, the world we live in has changed: there has been a rollback of globalisation, new geopolitical configurations are emerging, the world economy is beginning to transform under the influence of the “green” agenda, and the coronavirus pandemic has presented humanity with new social challenges.

The Valdai Club session at the EEF-2021 was devoted to the opportunities and threats that the new global context creates for the Russian Far East and the Arctic. Follow this link to read a summery of the session ⬇️

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/the-far-east-and-the-arctic-in-a-new-global-context/

🎥 Global warming and economy recovery after Covid make impact on Arctic transport corridor development.

Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway, who participated at Valdai Club’s session at EEF-2021 said that Russia requires investment in order to engage in large-scale international trade. What other external factors need to be taken into account in development of the Far East and the Arctic regions he shared his views in interview with valdaiclub.com

#EEF #EEF2021 #FarEast #Arctic @valdai_club

🇦🇫🇺🇸 We do not know if peace in Afghanistan becomes a reality. However, right now, for the first time in the past 40 years, internal political stabilisation in this country has the most solid foundation.

What the Taliban are doing or can do inside the country is not a reason for the general denial of their right to exist. The international context has changed, including in terms of the value dimension of politics and its role in making the most important decisions.

Strategically, the return of the radicals to power could lead to the stabilisation of the region, a significant decrease in the United States’ ability to influence its countries and the relative isolation of India, as the country that most closely connects its future with the West, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

#Global_Governance #Afghanistan

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-fall-of-kabul-and-the-balance-of-power/

🇺🇸🇦🇫 The war in Afghanistan is an extraordinary textbook on the American strategy that can be summed up as a growing up novel.

Inflated expectations, a sense of omnipotence, which, through a series of crises, gives way to deep disappointment and the overestimation of goals.

This painful experience for the United States was too expensive, but perhaps it will push it to become more sober in the future, writes Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-war-in-afghanistan-as-a-textbook-on-us/

#Conflict_and_Leadership #Afghanistan #USA @valdai_club

🎥 How could the role of the Arctic change as a result of increasing global warming?

European maritime powers initially began to use the Arctic corridor in the 1500s. What Russia is doing now is very much needed, Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeast Norway, who participated in Valdai Сlub's session at EEF-2021, considers. He shares his views on what should be done first and what problems will emerge with melting permafrost in interview with valdaiclub.com.

#EEF #EEF2021 #GlobalWarming #Arctic

🇷🇺🌏 Almost ten years ago, Russia declared the development of the Far East a national priority for the 21st century.

Despite the complexity and multifaceted nature of this task, the "pivot to the East" policy is bearing fruit: it is not the first year that the pace of development of the region has outperformed the average for Russia. However, over the years, the world we live in has changed: there has been a rollback of globalisation, new geopolitical configurations are emerging, the world economy is beginning to transform under the influence of the “green” agenda, and the coronavirus pandemic has presented humanity with new social challenges.

On Thursday, September 2, within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Valdai Discussion Club held a special session, titled “Global Challenges and Opportunities for the Far East and the Arctic”.

The session was devoted to the opportunities and threats that the new global context creates for the Russian Far East and the Arctic. Follow this link to read a summery of the session ⬇️

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/the-far-east-and-the-arctic-in-a-new-global-context/

🇷🇺➡️🌏 “Russia’s pivot to the East” is now complete.

From the very beginning, ten years ago, it was geared to promote the development of the Far East, a priority for state policy, through the strengthening of trade and economic ties and, at the national level, political relations with Asian countries.

1️⃣ First, this part of Russia is far removed from the nation’s main focal points for foreign policy and priority zones. The international military-political situation in Asia is characterised by a number of basic and private conflicts of interest between individual states. Russia, however, does not participate in these conflicts and has no interest in the contradictions that underscore them. The takeover of the Pacific territories by Russia took place during the period of maximum power of the European empires in the middle and second half of the 19th century. The Sino-Russian territorial dispute was settled at the beginning of this century, and the issue of the Kuril Islands in relations with Japan cannot serve as the basis for a dangerous conflict from the Russian point of view.

2️⃣ Second, Russia has no neighbours in Asia that could pose a threat to its national security. Even taking into account the fact that the main struggle between China and the United States will unfold in this region, there are no systemic factors that could become truly troubling for Moscow. The main such factor is the group of states or their alliance, which puts the weakening of Russia at the centre of their foreign policy. However, in this respect, Europe really occupies a special place, since historically it has created the main stimuli for development for Russia while at the same time generating challenges and threats in the sphere of security.

The main reason why it is possible to speak about the completion of this project is the transition of relations with Asian countries from the category of “new” to “ordinary”, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev summing up the results of Valdai Club’s special session within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-eastern-economic-forum-and-new-realities/

#EEF #EEF2021

🇦🇫🌏 NATO’s defeat in Afghanistan represents a wider defeat of the unipolar moment.

The US invaded Afghanistan as a response to terrorist attacks on September 11 2001, although Washington was somewhat open about the geopolitical objectives.

Since the beginning of the war, there was no shortage of analyses about how Afghanistan could be a bridgehead to assert US influence in the energy-rich Central Asian region and oust Russian and Chinese influence.

The offshore security strategy of both the UK and the US as de-facto island-states has throughout history been to prevent the emergence of a hegemon or collective hegemon in either Europe or Eurasia. In Europe, this entailed preventing a Russian-German alignment, and in the wider Eurasia it entailed obstructing a Russian-Chinese alignment. 

The fall of Kabul will have profound implications for Central Asia and wider Eurasia — presenting both risks and opportunities. The risks associated with the Taliban in control of Afghanistan can be construed as an opportunity to test and advance the Greater Eurasian Partnership, writes Valdai Club expert Glenn Diesen.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/central-asia-and-eurasia-after-the-fall-of-kabul/

#Global_Governance #Afghanistan #TalibanTakeover #USwithdrawal

@valdai_club