🇷🇺🌍 While the Russia -Africa summit is not unique in the sense that other countries have also found it meaningful to interact with African heads of states in one forum (examples include the China-Africa summit, US-Africa summit, India-Africa summit, Japan-Africa summit and Turkey-Africa summit), what is unique about the recently concluded summit in St. Petersburg is the diversity in the nature of participants, issues and thematic areas that were addressed. 

There has been a growing number of summit diplomacy critics who view the events from a post-colonial lens and argue that African leaders should not gather to meet other heads of state because they are equally heads of states themselves. While this argument is simplistic and populist to an extent, it does offer an opportunity for African leaders to think of the possibilities of hosting other heads of state. This can serve as an opportunity for them to also showcase opportunities and a development agenda that can be implemented through cooperation with other countries. That, however, is not the only lesson that the summit in St. Petersburg offers.

1️⃣ For one, it shows that Africa can leverage its numbers to become a formidable agency at the international level, something individual countries are not likely to have. The collective strength of African states is consistent with Pan-Africanism and could be the vehicle by which the continent raises its issues to a level of priority.

2️⃣ Secondly, summit diplomacy should not be confused as an attempt to dilute or even get rid of bilateral relations. Indeed, during the Russia-Africa Summit, many bilateral agreements took place not only between Russia and an African state but also among African states themselves. Thus, such platforms should be seen as an effective opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations while looking at the bigger picture.

Furthermore, summit diplomacies can offer African countries a channel to explore different avenues of engagement by listening to the proposals on the table during one summit to another and strengthen cooperation with those that offer better terms of cooperation. The Second Russia -Africa summit did have numerous opportunities regarding this direction, even though some of these benefits were overshadowed by information warfare, writes Israel Nyaburi Nyadera.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-second-russia-africa-summit-lessons-beyond/

#Norms_and_Values #AfricanValdai #RussiaAfricaSummit

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🌍 Reflections on a multipolar world raise the important question of whether or not the representatives of this new world act as equals.

A situation is emerging in which the world of multipolarity is still the world of major regional players and their politicking. Multipolarity means having multiple agendas promoted by different players. Equality, on the other hand, could be ensured by multilateralism, when there is a balance of interests, traditions, cultures and rights among large, medium and small actors. But is this state of affairs suitable for large players? To what extent are the states promoting multilateral rhetoric able and ready to take into account the rights of their smaller neighbours? These issues have their own features in WANA.

The diplomatic recovery of 2023 and regional multipolarity without proper economic (projects already exist) and institutional consolidation of normalization agreements have the risk of a rollback to armed confrontation.

A commitment to inclusive regional development and equality, rather than individual big players, could be the basis of a new regional order, writes Ruslan Mamedov, Senior Research Fellow, Center for the Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/regional-multipolarity-vs-regional-multilateralism/

#EconomicStatecraft #multipolarity #multilateralism

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🇮🇹 In 2022–2023 the Italian Republic, like a number of other European countries, faced the sharp problem of diversifying energy supplies.

Winter 2022–2023 was extremely mild in Europe, which helped to prevent an aggravation of the energy crisis, but the situation continues to be quite serious.

During the premiership of Mario Draghi in Italy, a plan was launched to diversify energy supplies with the aim of gradually phasing out Russian gas, which is being replaced primarily by LNG, Algerian, Azerbaijani and Northern European gas. The government of Giorgia Meloni continues to follow this plan, with the declared goal of completely eliminating dependence on Russian gas by the winter of 2024-2025.

In fact, the refusal of Italy to us Russian supplies is postponing the “green transition” in the country, since the economic component does not allow the government to give it any preference.

The Italian Republic seeks to establish itself in two of the most important roles chosen for itself: an active independent actor in international relations and an important member of the pan-European home, consistently upholding the basic values of the EU.

Time will tell how successful such a “two chairs” policy can be, writes Svetlana Gavrilova, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science and Political Philosophy at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/italy-s-new-energy-policy-national-interests/

#EconomicStatecraft #Italy #energy #GreenTransition

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🇷🇺 In the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, Russia is defined as "an original civilisation-state, a vast Eurasian and Euro-Pacific power that has rallied the Russian people and other peoples that make up the cultural and civilisational community of the Russian world." 

For the first time in the history of modern Russia, in an official doctrinal document, the idea of the Russian world and the civilisational theory of social development were used as the basis for foreign policy planning and state self-identification. 

The success of the application of the civilisational approach in Russia will largely depend on the content of our system and the ability to filter out inefficient borrowed elements (be it membership in certain international institutions, the “import” of the West’s culture and lifestyle, or excessive economic dependence on foreign currencies).

An analysis of modern history makes it possible to adjust the long-term strategy of relations, taking into account the conjunctural features of the activity of civilisations in the external environment, writes Evgeny Tipailov, Ph.D., Executive Director of ANO "Institute for Problems of Interdependence."

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/a-civilisational-approach-to-state-building/

#EconomicStatecraft #CivilisationState #Russia

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🇺🇸🇯🇵🇰🇷 The first ever trilateral summit of the three states was held on August 18th in the residence of the current US president in Camp David, became a real breakthrough in the long, but rather sluggish process of the formation of this military-political structure.

First of all, it must be emphasised that the meeting itself and its results are an obvious and resounding success of US diplomacy. Washington, with the same hard pressure as in Europe, where it prides itself on how quickly and effectively it mobilised and subordinated its NATO partners to a single allied will, is energetically “lining up” its allies in East Asia as well.

One of the fundamentally important characteristics of the new pact was that, if earlier it was considered as a non-primary instrument intended exclusively for the Northeast Asian region with an eye on North Korea, now its main mission has become global and defined in ensuring the strategic tasks of the US allies throughout the Indo-Pacific region. The document “The Spirit of Camp David” states: “Our partnership is built not only for our peoples, but for the entire Indo-Pacific region.”

So, Washington continues with indomitable energy to build a new global architecture of military-political alliances which are under its direct control, along the perimeter of the borders of Russia and China, uniting the security infrastructure from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean into a self-contained power infrastructure.

This summit became a real breakthrough in the long, but rather sluggish process of the formation of this military-political structure. There are indeed grounds for seeing a real transformation of the organisation previously described in terms of a “coalition structure” into a quasi-full-format military-political security pact, writes Alexander Vorontsov, Head of the Korea and Mongolia Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/reincarnation-of-the-usa-japan-south-korea-triangl/

#EconomicStatecraft #UnitedStates #Japan #SouthKorea #CampDavid #IndoPacific

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🇷🇺🇨🇳🇰🇵 The prerequisites for the resumption of strategic cooperation between Moscow, Pyongyang and Beijing were brewing against the background of the tightening of Washington's policy towards North Korea under the Biden administration, as well as NATO's military deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.

🔹 So, in 2021, the AUKUS bloc (USA, Britain and Australia) was created, which involves the assistance of Washington and London in the appearance of a nuclear submarine fleet in non-nuclear Australia.

🔹 The Quadripartite Security Dialogue QUAD (Australia, India, the USA and Japan) has already been branded as an anti-Chinese NATO; Canada has proposed the creation of a four-way cooperation structure involving South Korea, Japan, and the United States to counter Russia and China.

🔹 There are more and more persistent signals from Seoul and Tokyo that they are not averse to hosting American nuclear weapons or acquiring their own, which, again, would grossly violate the international non-proliferation regime.

In this regard, the visit to Pyongyang by high-ranking officials from Russia and China is as much moral support as it is a clear sign of the revival of the Russian-Chinese-North Korean coalition, designed to effectively counter the escalation of tension on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region as a whole.

The participation of Russian Minister of Defence Sergey Shoigu in the celebrations in Pyongyang, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Korean people in the Patriotic Liberation War of 1950-1953, was a clear signal to Washington and Seoul about the transformation of Russian policy on the Korean Peninsula in favour of recognizing the DPRK as an important military-political partner, writes an independent analyst Vitaly Sovin.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russia-north-korea-china-reactivation/

#EconomicStatecraft #Russia #China #DPRK #geopolitics

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🇮🇳 After gaining independence, India’s main goal would be to regain its lost status as a great power, and stand on par with other major great actors. Now, in 2023, India is closer than ever to achieving this status.

Last year, it overtook its former metropole, Great Britain, in terms of GDP, becoming the fifth largest economy in the world; this year it overtook China in terms of population. All other signs of global status are there (except for manned space exploration and a permanent seat on the UN Security Council):

🔹 an Arctic and Antarctic programme
🔹 possession of nuclear weapons
🔹 a successful space programme
🔹 interests around the globe

The interests of Russia and India in the political dimension coincide, but only partially. The Indian development strategy is long-term; within its framework, New Delhi solves several tasks. The key tasks are ensuring stable economic development, reaching third place in terms of global GDP, and securing India’s acceptance into the informal circle of great powers solving key world issues.

The solution of the first task implies the building of economic ties with the USA, Europe, Australia and Japan, and attracting investments and technologies. At the same time, in order not to become dependent on the West, India seeks to expand ties with non-Western players, including Russia.

The solution to the second implies clear rules of the game and a gradual transformation of a generally stable world order based on these rules, instead of its decisive breakdown, writes Alexei Kupriyanov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/global-india/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #India

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🌏 Today, the SCO hosts a variety of meetings and initiatives focused on interregional trade, transit, industrial cooperation, innovation, start-up projects, poverty reduction, the digital transformation, tourism, public diplomacy and other spheres.

This broad and diverse agenda presents a significant challenge for the SCO's secretariat, which must coordinate and manage the various initiatives and activities of its member states. 

Generally, regarding “horizontal expansion”, the SCO should stop this rapid process and answer key questions before launching any new horizontal expansion, including: how far does it plan to expand geographically? Will the process of changing the membership of observer members to main members continue in the future? Can dialogue partners become observer members and in the next step switch to maining members? Is the SCO able to face numerous conflicts and differences in the vast geography of Central Asia, Afghanistan, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and the Caucasus? 

But in vertical development, it seems that the structure of the SCO's secretariat should be fundamentally changed in order to be able to effectively deal with a wide and diverse range of goals and missions. The structure of the European Union Commission can serve as a suitable model for organising and defining the various missions and tasks of the SCO. 

The rapid and significant horizontal and vertical expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has had a negative impact on the coherence, coordination, efficiency and especially the executive guarantee of the organisation's policies and decisions, writes Vali Kaleji.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/challenges-of-expanding-the-sco-to-caucasus/

#ModernDiplomacy #SCO #Eurasia

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🏰🌍 France, of course, lingered in Africa much longer than it should have.

Among Europe’s former colonial empires that created their fortunes on the robbery of African and Asian peoples, France alone was able to create in the region, after leaving it, an infrastructure of political influence that not only affected the economy, but also the basic issues affecting the development of new sovereign states. 

In some countries of the region, including Senegal, Gabon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger, the French presence is expressed through the deployment of military bases and contingents. The history of the region over the past 40-50 years knows many examples of direct military intervention by the former metropole.

However, every story has an end. Now the development of African societies, as well as the general weakening of their enslavers, has led relations between them to some kind of intermediate finale, after which the former colonial masters will either have to leave altogether or look for new ways of maintaining their presence in Africa. The main reason is that the forces and resources of Paris are no longer sufficient to control the governments of formally sovereign countries, and there is no adequate replacement for it among the leading powers of the West.

Moreover, new external players are coming to Africa more and more actively. Russia is increasing its presence there in the field of security and the fight against religious terrorist groups, and China is increasing its influence in the economic sphere, often offering African countries much more beneficial and respectful models of cooperation than they could ever expect to receive from the West.

The development of African societies, as well as the general weakening of their enslavers, has led relations between them to some kind of intermediate finale, after which the former colonial masters will either have to leave altogether or look for new ways of maintaining their presence in Africa, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/colonial-dilemmas-of-the-west/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Africa #neocolonialism

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On September 4, at 4:00 pm, ahead of the Club's session at the Eastern Economic Forum-2023, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of a report, titled "Russia and Asia: Paradoxes of a New Reality", featuring Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.

The military-political crisis in Europe and the economic war of the West against Russia have served as incentives for Moscow to expand and strengthening its relations with Asian states. The vast majority of these countries take a neutral or friendly position towards Russia. The development of relations in 2022 and the dynamics of trade and economic ties with the region show that they are beneficial and useful for the implementation of Russia's most important tasks. Now, 10 years after the announcement of Russia's “pivot to the East" policy, it not only acquires a new meaning and content, but also confirms the correctness of the choice.

In 2022-2023, the countries of Asia and the states of the Arab world are the ones which are most actively developing ties with Russia. This confirms the failure of the West's attempts to isolate Moscow on the world stage. Russia’s partnership with China is developing particularly actively, but we see that other regional partners are also increasingly occupying a significant place in the system of Russian foreign economic relations. Trade, economic ties and political dialogue between Russia and the ASEAN countries are developing dynamically, Indian-Russian relations have acquired a new resonance, also due to India's balanced position in relation to the crisis in Europe. Some Asian countries, despite being US allies, are trying to maintain important areas of cooperation with Russia.

The objective of the Club's new report is to assess the dynamics of relations between Russia and Asian states in 2022-2023. The authors assess how the mechanisms of cooperation and participation of Russia in the regional formats which that have been created over the past decade function amid the new conditions.

🎙️ Speakers:

🇷🇺 Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

🇷🇺 Alexander Korolev, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, co-author of the report

🇷🇺 Ivan Zuenko, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of International Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia, Associate Professor, Department of Oriental Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia

🇮🇩 Rahakundini Bakrie Konni, Jenderal Ahmad Yani University expert, analyst in the field of defence, military and intelligence activities of Indonesia

Moderator:

🚩 Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director, Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, English.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-club-to-present-a-report-russia-and-asia-paradoxes-of-a-new-reality/

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.

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

#Valdai_EEF #Asia_and_Eurasia #Asia

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5️⃣⚛️ In August 2023, the chairmanship of the informal group of nuclear states (according to the NPT), known as the "Nuclear Five" (P5), passes from the United States to Russia.

The PrepCom of the NPT Review Conference, held in Vienna, has become a conditional symbol of this transition; it has demonstrated serious contradictions both within the P5 and between nuclear and non-nuclear countries.

The key achievement of the P5 has been the preservation in itself of the efficiency of this format, given the current crisis in international military-political relations, primarily between Russia and the West.

The Russian chairmanship can be used to maintain this format and ensure the mutual communication of important signals while confirming the readiness of all those involved to look for ways to reduce strategic risks, as well as de-escalate and reduce tensions in relations between nuclear powers without trying to score fleeting political points, writes Dmitry Stefanovich.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-nuclear-five-state-of-affairs-and-prospects/

#ModernDiplomacy #P5 #NuclearFive

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🇷🇸🇷🇺 Serbs were the first nation in the world to fight against the wave of Western imperialism that started after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Serbs and Yugoslavia were the first targets of Westerners in their revisited Drang nach Osten. Thus, Yugoslavia was attacked by the West through internal separatist movements in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia as well as through Western domination within the United Nations.

The Civil War in Yugoslavia (1991–1995) was followed from 1992 to 1995 by UN sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the Republic of Srpska (Serbian state in Bosnia-Herzegovina), Serbs from Krajina (parts of today’s Croatia) and an NATO air bombing campaign against the Republic of Srpska and Serbs of Krajina (1994–1995). During that period, the Serbs were completely alone in their rightful combat for the preservation of Serbian and Yugoslav statehood.

The Serbian struggle against Western imperialists in the 1990s gave the Russian Federation time to consolidate and reshape its views on Western expansionism. It might be that those ten years of Serbian resistance were very precious for Russia.

Almost the entire Serbian population, throughout the former Yugoslavia, has taken a pro-Russian position. In the internal political struggle of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, there is no Russophobic sentiment at all, even within the ranks of pro-Western parties, writes Aleksandar Raković.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/serbia-and-russia-in-the-context-of-current-west/

#Norms_and_Values #Serbia #Russia

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🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦 Last week in Johannesburg, South Africa, the summit of BRICS leaders ended; this, in a number of different ways, marked a new stage in the development of the bloc, and in the growth of its influence throughout the world.

Despite the large array of topics on all three pillars of interaction (political, economic and humanitarian) and the priorities of South Africa, most attention was focused on two key issues.

1️⃣ First, the issue of expanding the group and the previous explosive growth of official applications for membership.

2️⃣ Second, working out a way for BRICS to launch its own payment instrument. Therefore, it is not surprising that the overwhelming majority of observers hardly noticed the development of many other issues on the agenda.

Starting January 1, 2024, Russia will already be dealing with a completely different BRICS.

BRICS has received an impulse to make a real transition to a new, more just world order. The ability of the new BRICS to fully realize itself and fulfil the mission of the transition depends on how our descendants will remember the 21st century, Viktoria Panova writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russia-on-the-way-to-brics-chairmanship/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #BRICS #BRICSSummit

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🇷🇺🌏 Global connectivity as it developed over the past decades has been and remains a major positive factor in Russia-Asia relations.

The core elements of this global connectivity framework have helped Russia and Asia develop closer ties but are now coming under serious pressure in the context of present-day international politics.

The sudden deterioration in the international and political situation in Europe and Russia’s proxy military confrontation with the West since February 24, 2022 changed the way we see this future in considerable ways.

1️⃣ First, despite its central role in the world economy, Asia no longer presents an immediate threat to international peace. Not so long ago there were expectations that the ongoing confrontation between the United States and China could escalate, but now it has been put on the back burner for an indefinite period.

2️⃣ Second, the surge in Russia’s trade and economic relations with Asian countries in 2022 and 2023 resulted from the need to quickly cut ties with the West and the urgent need for Russia to expand its trade in other regions, rather than the earlier efforts to gain a stronger foothold in this region.

3️⃣ Third, there is no direct link between the expansion in Russia’s trade with Asian countries and efforts to promote a closer political dialogue or Moscow seeking to play a more visible role in regional cooperation formats and forums. In political terms, the position adopted by Asian countries on the developments in Europe proved to be rather favourable for Russia. Therefore, the extent to which Russia must contribute to discussing Asia’s regional challenges has yet to be determined.

The authors of a new Valdai report, titled “Russia and Asia: The Paradoxes of a New Reality,” assess how Russia’s standing vis-à-vis Asian countries changed after the military and political conflict started in February 2022, as well as how regional development patterns have been affecting partnerships within this region.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/reports/russia-and-asia-the-paradoxes-of-a-new-reality/

📍 On September 4, ahead of the Club's session at the Eastern Economic Forum-2023, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of the report, featuring Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.

#Asia_and_Eurasia #valdai_report

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

🎥 LIVE: at 4:00 pm, ahead of the Club's session at the Eastern Economic Forum-2023, the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the report, titled "Russia and Asia: Paradoxes of a New Reality", featuring Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko @MFARussia.

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239117

#Valdai_EEF #Asia_and_Eurasia #Asia

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