🎥 Is the creation of an EU armed force possible and, if so, when might it happen? 

👉 Anatol Lieven, Senior Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (USA), a participant of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, answered these and other questions.

#VALDAI2021 #Europe #EU #armedforce

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🏰🐉🗽The European NATO countries are pushing the United States to confront China.

However, the American understanding of security problems in East Asia is also deeply mistaken. For decades, the United States has pursued a strategy of engaging China, seeking to manage its rise and development. When the Americans became convinced that this strategy didn’t work, the United States moved on to contain China, prevent its technological development, cooperate with the EU countries, and even more so prevent it from taking over Taiwan, a key semiconductor manufacturer.

As we know well from the experience of Russia, the countries of Eastern Europe have coped successfully with torpedoing relations between Russia and the West. It is possible that they will do even more damage to the US relationship with China, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

🔗 NATO in the Pacific: How Will Article 5 Work?

#Conflict_and_Leadership #NATO #UnitedStates #EasternEurope #China #worldorder

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 18, at 10:30 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the results of COP26, titled “From Paris to Glasgow: The Victory of Scepticism or Real Progress?”

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, has ended in Glasgow. The purpose of the conference was to summarise the results of the five-year period since the adoption of the climate agreements in Paris. According to the representatives of the Western countries, it was supposed to become a “moment of truth” for the whole world. At the same time, the conference was doomed to fail according to many experts, who argued that given the current economic conditions and pandemic-driven crisis it was impossible to achieve the intended goals — first of all, to prevent the temperature rising on Earth to more than 1.5º C above pre-industrial levels.

However, the conference decided to stop deforestation and reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. However, not all countries agreed with these proposals. The developing nations are most challenged by new green initiatives. Some of them are experiencing instability and armed conflict, making it difficult for them to adapt to climate change.

For Russia, the topic of climate change is more important than ever. In a video message to the participants of this year’s G20 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the average annual temperature in Russia is growing faster than average global temperatures. Russia has already joined the countries committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the middle of this century, making efforts to introduce “green” principles to the economy.

❓What are the general results of the conference? Did it really contribute to the fight against climate change?
❓What are the current forecasts regarding the achievement the goals agreed upon Paris in 2015?
❓Why is the world still divided over how to combat climate change? Is it surmountable?

These and other questions will be answered by the participants in the discussion.

👥 Speakers:

🇷🇺 Ruslan Edelgeriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on Climate Issues

🇷🇺 Alexey Kokorin, Director of the Climate and Energy Program, WWF Russia

🇦🇺 Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra

🇲🇱 James Reynolds, head of delegation for the ICRC Mali

Moderator:

🚩 Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, English.

Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms used by the Valdai Club: on the website, on Facebook, Vkontakte, Instagram, and Telegram.

🔗 Valdai Club to Discuss COP26

#COP26 #climatechange #ecology

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

👥🌐 Almost two years after the spread of the coronavirus, all major social challenges and problems remain relevant.

🔹 Despite the higher mortality rate among the elderly, the aging of the population has not gone away. It continues to affect the processes in the labour market, public finances, and the slowdown in economic growth.

🔹 Technological change and the trend towards digitalisation remain with us, and have even accelerated.

🔹 The temporary reduction in migration flows due to the closure of sectors of the economy and borders only emphasised the almost invisible, but important role of migrants in safeguarding our lives.

🔹 At the same time, the pandemic showed a clear link between inequality and the magnitude of losses, not only economic or social, but also on a human scale. The phenomenon of higher mortality in countries with higher income inequality, known even before the pandemic, has received new empirical confirmation.

The coronavirus pandemic, while serving as a powerful shake-up, did not become the key to solving the accumulated social problems. High income inequality, often perceived as unfair, provokes an increase in social tension, which, in the absence of social cohesion, finds very crooked answers, writes Valdai Club expert Oksana Sinyavskaya.

🔗 The Coronavirus Pandemic: A Key to Solving Social Problems or a Catalyst for Them?

#Global_Governance #coronavirus #pandemic #society

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

❓💬 Is tolerance possible for all?

Since 1995, the International Day for Tolerance has been observed on November 16. On that day, UNESCO issued a declaration establishing the holiday, and over the past years, it has become sufficiently rooted in international practice. At the same time, it would hardly be an exaggeration to admit that the Day for Tolerance has by no means become a significant public holiday. Why? Writes Oleg Barabanov, Valdai Club Programme Director.

🔗 Day for Tolerance: Is Tolerance Possible for All?

#Morality_and_Law #tolerance #society

📷 ©Reuters

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🌏 The current economic framework in Eurasia is fragmented and lacks the digital connectivity that would be predicated on cross-country and cross-regional digital agreements.

This in turn limits the capability of countries to coordinate policies in areas such as trade, migration, digital economy development.

A common platform would address the issue of the “digital gap” across the countries of Eurasia via promoting greater “digital inclusivity”, most notably with respect to the low-income developing economies, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Yaroslav Lissovolik.

🔗 Another Look at the Prospects of a Eurasian Digital Platform

#Corporations_and_Economy #digitalplatforms #regionalism #digitalisation

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇺🇸🇷🇺 From attempts to universalise the American-centric world order, the United States has moved to its consolidation and defence, and from the “post-Cold War” era to the era of a new global confrontation.

US foreign policy is undergoing an important transition. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan drew a final and symbolic line under the period of its foreign policy, which began not on September 11, 2001, but in the early 1990s — what’s commonly called the “post-Cold War” period. 

The abandonment of the paradigm of universalisation of the American-centric world order is in no way a signal of the readiness of the United States to form a joint multipolar world order with non-Western centres of power, primarily with China and Russia. 

Liberal ideology in its newest left-liberal form is turning from a means of expansion into an instrument for consolidating the “collective West”, defining “us and them” and splitting the international community into opposing blocs, writes Valdai Club expert Dmitry Suslov.

🔗 New Paradigm of US Foreign Policy and Relations with Russia

#Conflict_and_Leadership #UnitedStates #Biden #worldorder #geopolitics

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📆 TOMORROW, on November 18, at 10:30 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the results of COP26, titled “From Paris to Glasgow: The Victory of Scepticism or Real Progress?”

❓What are the general results of the conference? Did it really contribute to the fight against climate change?
❓What are the current forecasts regarding the achievement the goals agreed upon Paris in 2015?
❓Why is the world still divided over how to combat climate change? Is it surmountable?

These and other questions will be answered by the participants in the discussion.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms used by the Valdai Club: on the website, on Facebook, Vkontakte, Instagram, and Telegram.

#COP26 #climatechange #ecology

📷 ©Reuters

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

🎥 LIVE: at 10:30 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion on the results of COP26, titled “From Paris to Glasgow: The Victory of Scepticism or Real Progress?”

#COP26 #climatechange #ecology

https://valdaiclub.com/multimedia/video/live-from-paris-to-glasgow-the-victory-of-scepticism-or-real-progress/

📷 Today, on November 18, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the results of COP26, titled “From Paris to Glasgow: The Victory of Scepticism or Real Progress?”

👉 Photo gallery of the meeting is available on our Instagram.

🎞 The video of the discussion will be available via this link soon.

Stay tuned!

🇪🇺🇧🇾🇵🇱 After the countries of Western Europe implemented their large-scale project of expanding the European Union to the East in the early 2000s, they hoped to create a belt of countries around its perimeter, which could ensure a peaceful neighbourhood. This, however, turned out to be impossible — now the EU borders are a continuous conflict zone, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

🔗 Border Conflict and the New European Reality

#Global_Governance #Europe #migrantcrisis #Poland #Belarus

📷 ©Sputnik/Viktor Tolochko

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🌳🌐 COP26: Tough Negotiations at Hard Times

On November 18, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion on the results of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, titled “From Paris to Glasgow: The Victory of Scepticism or Real Progress?”

The participants discussed the expectations that existed before the conference, its results, as well as more general problems in dealing with the changing crisis. The discussion was moderated by Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

🔹 Ruslan Edelgeriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation on Climate Issues, spoke about how the conference was held and the success of the Russian delegation. According to him, discussions often went beyond the framework of the Paris Agreement, and the main struggle was over coal and hydrocarbons.

🔹 James Reynolds, head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Mali, shared his experience of working in one of the most problematic regions in terms of exposure to climate change. He pointed out that climate-related challenges have become more and more urgent for his organisation, and gave examples of measures taken by the Red Cross to counter these challenges.

🔹 Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, gave a number of potential future scenarios entailing varying degrees of danger, explaining that the nature of the situation that plays out depends on how much it’s possible to reduce emissions and at what level it will be possible to curb warming.

🔹 Alexey Kokorin, Director of the Climate and Energy Program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Russia, summed up the overall results of COP26 in Glasgow. He explained the decision that each country should achieve a balance between emissions and absorption on its territory, as well as Russia’s strategy, which is characterised by a relatively small reduction in emissions, coupled with a large-scale increase in net absorption. According to the expert, achieving this will not be easy, but is quite possible in principle.

🔗 COP26: Tough Negotiations at Hard Times

#COP26 #ecology #climatechange

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇧🇾🇪🇺🇷🇺 The migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border is only the latest episode in the political conflict between Belarus and the European Union.

Earlier, Brussels approved the toughest sanctions against the republic’s economy in the history of their diplomatic relations:

❌ a ban on European business cooperating with Belarusian exporters of potash fertilizers (in terms of nomenclature items), oil products and tobacco, as well as banking sector companies

❌ restricted access to the European capital market, including a ban on the purchase of Belarusian securities with a maturity of more than 90 days

❌ a ban on European banks providing insurance services and loans to the Belarusian government and state bodies, including the suspension of lending through the European Investment Bank

❌ a ban on European air carriers flying through Belarus, and Belavia flights over the EU

❌ individual sanctions (more than 160 citizens of Belarus are included in the so-called “black lists”), mean a ban on visits to the EU, business interaction and the “freezing” of accounts in EU banks

The stability of the Belarusian economy is one of the key factors that will influence the dynamics of the crisis, which creates risks for Russian interests.

Real economic integration with Russia is necessary to maintain social and economic stability in Belarus, writes Valdai Club expert Vyacheslav Sutyrin.

🔗 Economy of Belarus: Between Western Sanctions and Union with Russia

#Belarus #economy #sanctions #EU #Europe

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📆 For a second time in a row, the Valdai Club experts take part in the annual Global Town Hall, organized by  the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia.

This year’s Global Town Hall undertakes the theme, “Managing Competition, Conflict, and Cooperation in a Pandemic World,” with the Valdai Club experts taking part in two sessions.

Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Club, will take part in the session, titled “The Geopolitics of Competition and Alignments: How Far will the Strategic Rivalries Go and What are the Chances for Rapprochement?”. It will start at 9:10 Moscow time (GMT+3).

“The Future of Afghanistan and Its Impact on Regional Security” session, starting at 7:45 Moscow time (GMT+3), will feature Dr. Lana Ravandi-Fadai, Associate Professor of the Contemporary East in the Department of History, Political Science and Law of the Russian State University for the Humanities.

ℹ️ Global Town Hall is an open virtual platform that provides a common space to connect world leaders, policymakers, and leading minds with global citizens in full-day 15-hour world-class discussions on current issues that matter.

🔗 Valdai Club Takes Part in Global Town Hall-2021

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🌏 Valdai Club at Global Town Hall-2021: Russia's Policy in Afghanistan and the Relevance of the Cold War Experience for the Asia-Pacific Region

For the second time, Valdai Club experts took part in two sessions of the Global Town Hall conference, which is organised by the Indonesian Foreign Policy Community.

🔹 Lana Ravandi-Fadai, Associate Professor of the Contemporary East at the Department of History, Political Science and Law of the Russian State University for the Humanities, presented the Russian view on the situation in Afghanistan during the session titled "The future of Afghanistan and its impact on regional security". She stressed that the neutral status of Russia, which did not participate in the twenty-year war in Afghanistan, gives it an advantage as a mediator, but at the same time Moscow is forced to take into account the interests of neighbouring countries. At the same time, the expert pointed out that the unstable situation in Afghanistan could create security threats for Russia.

🔹 Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Club, spoke at the session titled “The Geopolitics of Competition and Alignments: How Far will the Strategic Rivalries Go and What are the Chances for Rapprochement?” which focused on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that Russia is both a part of this region and is distanced from it - not geographically, but mentally. Its political thinking is still too Western-centric. Talking about how the experience of the US-Soviet confrontation during the Cold War can be relevant for the US-China confrontation in the region, he stressed that the stability of the Cold War was based on nuclear deterrence and mutual assured destruction. Now, Asia will have to get used to the security gambles that the world was quick to forget about.

Lukyanov also pointed out an important difference between the Cold War and the current state of affairs. An important difference is that during the Cold War weaker countries were forced to choose sides; in the current era, however, due to the decline of universalism they are likely to try in every possible way to avoid choosing and obeying others' rules.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/valdai-club-at-global-town-hall-2021-russia-s-policy-in-afghanistan/

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 The AUKUS agreement, and particularly the nuclear-submarines component, appear to be part of a broader plan to bolster US capacity in the Asia-Pacific, reassure regional allies of the US commitment to defence of the region, and perhaps above all, to counter the perception of a “rising” and more assertive China.

At the same time, it will look to many like US double standards and even reflective of a neo-colonial attitude to nuclear proliferation where some countries are deemed “responsible” nuclear operators and others are not, writes Valdai Club expert Andrew Futter.

🔗 Unpacking the AUKUS Trilateral Security Partnership: Politics, Proliferation and Propulsion

#Conflict_and_Leadership #AUKUS #Australia #UK #UnitedStates #China #AsiaPacific

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🏰 The European elites have time to look around and make sure from their own experience that an evidence-based policy in the field of international security is possible and even necessary, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

❓ However, the key question is how to achieve this in the context of the “vacation” from strategic thinking among the European elites?

🔗 Three Foundations of Peace in Europe: An Evidence-Based European Security Policy

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🎉 Congratulations to Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov as he became a dean of the faculty of international relations in MGIMO University! Wishing Andrey the best and plenty of success in his new role.

📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 29 at 16:30 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion titled “Relations Between Russia and NATO: A Grand Finale or To Be Continued?” Alexander Grushko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation will be among the participants.

In November 2021, Russia suspended the activity of its permanent mission to NATO in response to the unjustified expulsion of the Russian mission’s personnel. According to the statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry, at the moment Russia does not maintain contacts with the NATO Secretariat. Relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Alliance have consistently deteriorated over the past few years. Among the fundamental reasons for this deterioration are the expansion of NATO to the East, the growing imbalance of the potentials of Russia and NATO, the degradation of the arms control regime, and the development of NATO military infrastructure near the borders of Russia.

The North Atlantic Alliance itself is undergoing a transformation. The bloc’s mobilisation gained a second wind under the banner of anti-Russian sentiment. The degree of anti-Russian hysteria in the countries of Eastern Europe has failed to subside, and the alliance has demonstratively increased the intensity of aerial reconnaissance over the Black Sea. However, a number of targets, including defence spending mandates, remain unfulfilled. Attempts by the United States to deploy NATO against China have not yet met much enthusiasm among the allies.

Russia is also changing. Military reform has resulted in a compact and well-resourced military force. Russia is a world leader in the field of strategic and conventional weapons. NATO views Russia as a dangerous rival, capable of inflicting significant damage even without the use of nuclear forces.

❓How likely is the aggravation of relations between Russia and NATO and their transition to an open armed conflict?
❓Could such a conflict be provoked by incidents in the air and at sea?
❓Should we expect the development of a policy of double containment of Russia and China by NATO?
❓Do Russia and NATO have areas of common interest? Is it possible to work on their promotion?
❓Under what conditions will it be possible to resume the work of the Russian mission to NATO?

These and other questions will be answered by the participants of the discussion.

👥 Speakers:

🇬🇧 Stefanie Babst, Principal & Global Policy Advisor, Brooch Associates; Senior Associate Fellow, European Leadership Network, London

🇺🇸 Thomas Graham, Distinguished Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (USA)

🇷🇺 Alexander Grushko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

🇷🇺 Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club 

🇬🇧 George Isley McNeill Robertson, NATO Secretary General (1999–2004)

🇬🇧 Adam Thomson, UK Permanent Representative to NATO (2014–2016), Director of the European Leadership Network, a Pan-European Think Tank

Moderator:

🚩 Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, English.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms used by the Valdai Club: on the website, on Facebook, Vkontakte, Instagram, and Telegram.

🔗 Valdai Club to Discuss Relations Between Russia and NATO

#valdaiclub #NATO

@valdaiclub — Международный дискуссионный клуб «Валдай»