🛒🌐 Will countries be able to ensure their independence in imports?

Especially for the Valdai Club session at the EEF-2023, titled “Open Far East in the World Economy: Achievements and Plans for the Future,” we created a videoinfographic on import substitution and import independence.

#Valdai_EEF #imports #economy

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📷 On September 11, 2023, the Valdai Club held a session, titled “Open Far East in the World Economy: Achievements and Plans for the Future”, within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum.

Photo gallery of the discussion is available in this album.

The video of the discussion is available via this link.

Stay tuned!

#Valdai_EEF #Asia #FarEast

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🌏 The East on fire: who benefits from a war in northeast Asia?

There have been no active hostilities in Northeast Asia for more than 70 years. However, today the state of affairs in the region is complicated by the growing intensity of the complex confrontation between China and the United States, which also involves American allies in the region — Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The process of creating a kind of “anti-China” on the basis of Taiwan issue, which has been carried out by Washington since the early 2000s and finally entrenched under the current democratic administration of Tsai Ing-wen, is alarming.

The United States is actually implementing the “Ukrainian scenario”, promising security guarantees and military support, as well as drawing allies — Japan and some NATO countries — into a potential conflict zone, writes Andrey Gubin. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-east-is-on-fire-who-benefits-from-a-war-in-nor/

#EconomicStatecraft #Asia #China

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📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On September 14 at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.” The participants will also discuss Russia’s possible response in modern conditions.

According to the Ministry of Finance, since the start of the special military operation in February 2022, assets of more than 3.5 million Russians worth 1.5 trillion rubles have been frozen. Blocking financial sanctions involve freezing the assets of Russian citizens and companies included in the sanctions lists. Russians are losing access to frozen property, and the countries initiating sanctions are persecuting any attempt to bring them to Russia. At the same time, calls in the West to transfer Russian property to Ukraine are growing louder.

Russia had previously refrained from retaliating, but in August, at the Council on Strategic Development and National Projects, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov proposed starting an exchange of assets of Russian citizens for assets of foreign investors.

❓What are the features of existing and developing mechanisms for the confiscation of Russian property?
❓What does the experience of Canada and the USA say?
❓What problems does the confiscation of Russian property in the EU lead to?
❓What determines Switzerland’s restrained attitude towards the issue of confiscation?
❓What might Russia’s response be?
❓What are the prospects for the escalation of the conflict between Russia and the West due to the confiscation of Russian property?

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

🎙️ Speakers:

🔹 Sergey Glandin, partner, lawyer at BGP Litigation

🔹 Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics, Higher School of Economics

🔹 Konstantin Simonov, General Director of the National Energy Security Fund, Professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

🔹 Dmitry Timofeev, Director of the Department for Control of External Restrictions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation

Moderator:

🗣 Ivan Timofeev, programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club

https://valdaiclub.com/events/announcements/valdai-cub-to-discuss-russian-property-abroad/

Working languages: Russian, English.

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.

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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🇺🇸🇯🇵🇰🇷 The real purpose of a trilateral summit of the leaders of the United States, Japan, and South Korea at Camp David was was aimed at strengthening military-political cooperation among the three countries, directed primarily against China, but also, albeit to a lesser extent, against North Korea and Russia.

Both Japan and South Korea are tied to the United States with military-political alliances that were formally established in 1960 and 1954, respectively, and in actuality existed even before that. However, despite the reality and significance of the American-South Korean and American-Japanese alliances, they remain extremely difficult in many ways.

With the help of the trilateral format, Washington hopes to finally solve the problem that has been a headache for American diplomats for many decades: the long-standing conflict between Japan and South Korea and the chronic unwillingness of these two countries to cooperate directly with each other on military-political issues, Andrei Lankov writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/america-and-the-squabbles-of-its-east-asian-allies/

#ModernDiplomacy #UnitedStates #Japan #SouthKorea

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🗣 On September 13, 2023, a meeting was held in Beijing between the delegation of the Valdai International Discussion Club and representatives of the Xinhua News Agency.

During the meeting, Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, and President of the Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua discussed the prospects for cooperation.

In particular, the parties agreed on the participation of the director of the Research Institute of the Xinhua News Agency, Liu Gang, in the upcoming Valdai Club event. Andrey Bystritskiy, in turn, was invited to a thematic event for the exchange of ideas between think tanks within the framework of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum on International Cooperation.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/a-meeting-of-the-valdai-club-delegation-with-representatives-of-the-xinhua-news-agency/

#valdaiclub

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🧳 Will customs in EU countries undress Russian citizens?

The EU sanctions policy against Russia includes a wide range of measures. These include blocking financial sanctions, sectoral restrictions, transport and visa bans, export controls on a wide range of goods, as well as a ban on the import of a number of goods from Russia. The latter measure can be described as import controls. Its goal is to deprive Moscow of income from the sale of these goods on the markets of EU member countries. Brussels has banned the import of a number of strategic raw materials from Russia, including oil, petroleum products, coal, ferrous metallurgy products, gold, and others.

At the same time, a number of other items were also banned. This norm is postulated in Art. 3i of Council Regulation 833/2014. The direct or indirect import of certain goods from Russia to the EU is prohibited, as well as the related provision of intermediary and financial services. Appendix XXI reveals the list of titles. It is very diverse: you can find products ranging from caviar to cement, chemical products, fertilizers, soap, rubber, paper, pumps, refrigerators, bearings, engines, telephones, cars, cameras and much more. Obviously, shipments of such goods had no chance of passing customs.

But what should be done if a Russian citizen imports this or that product for personal use? The most obvious example is entering the EU in a private car.

Russian tourists are distinguished by courage — they often venture to more extreme jurisdictions, and being deprived of toilet paper or a camera might seem trifling. But if the practice becomes widespread, another nail will be driven into the coffin of human ties between Russia and the EU, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/will-customs-in-eu-countries-undress-russians/

#EconomicStatecraft #EU #sanctions

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🌏 On September 14-15, 2023, the Anniversary Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Five Central Asian States will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Five years have passed since the first meeting was convened at the initiative of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and a mechanism for consultations at the highest level was launched.

Today we can say with confidence that the hopes for a “informal club” of regional leaders have been fully justified. Moreover, this is true of all components, including political, economic, cultural and humanitarian ones.

The countries of Central Asia, as independent parties engaged in international relations, do not want the region to become an arena of multilateral competition in the spirit of the “Great Game”. They have other long-term interests: strengthening the neighbourhood as well as building peaceful, friendly, equal and mutually respectful among themselves and with the outside world, writes Rashid Alimov. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/central-asia-towards-a-new-calibre-of-relations/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #CentralAsia

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🌏 Asia is now precisely the region that has become Russia’s “gateway” to the global economy; it trades most actively with us and maintains a dialogue at the interstate level.

This is also evidenced by the results of the analysis carried out by Valdai Club experts in a recently published report on the dynamics of relations between Russia and Asian countries over the past year and a half.

Since the spring of 2022, the West began to pursue a policy of ousting us from world markets, and ties with Asia played a decisive role in the fact that this ultimately did not happen. The Far East and its leading cities, including Vladivostok itself, has become the most important “hub” for trade and economic relations with Asian countries on a new scale. Over the past months, the load on cargo ports has increased manifold.

That is why the Eastern Economic Forum, traditionally, has not only been about business cooperation, but also about solving the development problems which face the Far East as a whole. This is achieved through the close coordination of measures taken by the Russian government and the initiatives of the business community.

The EEF-2023 was a kind of synchronisation of watches on how the “pivot to Asia” policy responded to the demand and needs that arose last year, what has already been done, and what problems have become the most important. These problems of today form the agenda for tomorrow, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/pivot-to-the-east-at-a-new-stage-eef-assesses/

#Valdai_EEF #EEF #EEF2023 #Asia #FarEast

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⏰ TODAY at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.” The participants will also discuss Russia’s possible response in modern conditions.

❓What are the features of existing and developing mechanisms for the confiscation of Russian property?
❓What does the experience of Canada and the USA say?
❓What problems does the confiscation of Russian property in the EU lead to?
❓What determines Switzerland’s restrained attitude towards the issue of confiscation?
❓What might Russia’s response be?
❓What are the prospects for the escalation of the conflict between Russia and the West due to the confiscation of Russian property?

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

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.

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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

🎥 LIVE: at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), we are starting a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.”

https://vk.com/video-214192832_456239120

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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📷 On September 14, 2023, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.”

Photo gallery of the discussion is available in this album.

The video of the discussion is available via this link.

Stay tuned!

🗣🗣🗣

⚖️ The system of checks and balances is the central structure of modern liberal democracy, and an independent judiciary is its most important element.

For centuries, the judiciary was under the tutelage of political power (it remains so to this day in much of the world). But in liberal democracies it has not only broken free: over the past half century it has pushed political institutions into the background, according to some observers. It no longer contents with the function of control, but imposes its will and its interpretation of law on the executive and legislative bodies.

Created to protect citizens from the whims and abuses of their head of state, the rule of law today shows a clear imbalance in favour of the judiciary; a sovereign nation is subject to the whims of a judge who not only implements the law, but makes it himself, Natalia Rutkevich writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/juristocracy-from-the-rule-of-law/

#Norms_and_Values #law

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🇷🇺🌏 “Russia is returning to Africa” — this phrase is usually used by those who talk about our country’s activities on this continent.

But this phrase is incorrect: Russia, the heir of the Soviet Union, never left Africa.

Given that the adoption of the decisions of the Second Russia-Africa Summit was accompanied by the development of a mechanism for their implementation, and in light of the high professional level of the leaders and employees of the Russian Foreign Ministry who were called upon to coordinate it, there is every reason to believe that these decisions will be implemented, and that Russia’s cooperation with African countries in many areas will yield new prospects, writes Vladimir Shubin.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/is-russia-returning-to-africa/

#Norms_and_Values #Africa #RussiaAfrica #RussiaAfricaSummit

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⛔️ Confiscation of Russian Assets: Politics vs. Law

On September 14, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation”, dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad. 

💬 Discussion moderator Ivan Timofeev noted that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets is now being actively discussed in the West. There is no mass practice of this kind yet, but appropriate legal mechanisms are gradually being created and these trends are also noticeable at the political level.

💬 Dmitry Timofeev, Director of the Department for Control of External Restrictions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, noted that the West did not dare to attempt to sharply isolate Russia, as had been expected after the start of the special military operation. Russia is too important for the world markets. A scenario where Russia would gradually be isolated is also unlikely: the problem of negative effects on the Western countries’ own economies remains and cannot be overcome by any political statements.

💬 Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, emphasised that there are still few real cases of confiscation and they are de facto marginal. “Apparently, a solution how to confiscate without breaking the entire structure of private property as an institution has not been found,” she said. In her opinion, the system will most likely continue to operate in the same spirit, mainly focusing on physical rather than financial assets. She emphasised that it is not only about institutions and the importance of Russia, but also about the fact that it is obvious to everyone: if confiscations affect Russia, China will be next. And in China’s case the scale of investment is much larger, and the retaliatory actions would be much more difficult to calculate.

💬 “Russia’s role in the global energy sector is too significant to throw it away with sanctions regimes and confiscations,” said Konstantin Simonov, Director General of the National Energy Security Fund, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation. He noted that sanctions undermine the institution of private property and, accordingly, trust of the Global South in Western institutions and rules. Business, especially businesses with long investment cycles, cannot work like that, so it is probably waiting until they “start to push off from the bottom,” but politicians force them to “punch through the bottom” every time, the analyst admitted, noting that the “creativity” of regulators is likely to grow.

💬 Sergey Glandin, lawyer, partner of BGP Litigation commented on the situation around the European Commission’s clarifications regarding the import of personal belongings and vehicles into the EU by Russian citizens. According to him, what is happening shows the level of incompetence among EU authorities, who are entangled in their own anti-Russian policies and rhetoric. EU sanctions legislation (especially the eighth package of sanctions) is aimed at income from business activities, and attempts to apply it to confiscate property of individuals not intended for sale clearly contradict its spirit.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/confiscation-of-russian-assets-politics-vs-law/

#EconomicStatecraft #sanctions

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🇦🇫 In practice, over the past two years, the Taliban has not fully satisfied either positive or negative expectations.

The Taliban did not abandon its principles. The movement considers itself a liberator of the country from foreign occupation. They are confident that they deserve victory and have the right to be in power. No constitution, no elections, no inclusivity (no coalition government with anyone who isn’t “our own”). The Taliban’s right to power stems from its ability to take and hold this power.

The Taliban has held out and has generally managed to control power. It cannot be said that the Taliban order in Afghanistan is something completely unusual in comparison with other countries. Afghanistan under the Taliban fits into the spectrum of global diversity. However, long-term problems still remain. 

The Americans left, but faith in their myths about the prospects for economic development and expectations of corresponding projects from foreigners have remained. In terms of belief in these American myths, the Taliban is no different from the leaders of the previous pro-American government. Moreover, the Taliban tends to ask their regional neighbours for the implementation of American myths, Ivan Safranchuk writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/two-years-after-the-return-of-the-taliban/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Afghanistan #Taliban

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🇹🇷 The new presidential term of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who won the elections on May 28, 2023, fully reflects the key trends in Turkey’s political transformation over the past decade.

📍The most noticeable is the large-scale and consistent consolidation in the hands of the president of monopoly control over all branches of power

📍The dismantling of institutional checks and balances on presidential power, both on the part of state institutions and civil society

📍Desecularisation of public life in Turkey in general, especially in the sphere of education  

📍The offensive foreign policy, with the deepening of its militarisation and de-Westernisation 

On the way to his third presidential term, Erdoğan faced the biggest political challenge of his career. The rapid economic growth that characterised his early years at the head of Turkey gave way to a long-term financial and economic crisis. The Turkish lira over the past five years has depreciated more than five sixths against the dollar and the euro, losing more than 38% in the aftermath of the elections. 

Erdoğan and his supporters will have to seriously prepare for the municipal elections in the spring of 2024, in which the AKP plans to regain control of the largest cities – the capitals Ankara and Istanbul, as well as Antalya.

The municipal elections scheduled for March 2024 will be another major electoral test for Erdoğan. The president considers them “decisive” and regards them as a kind of vote of confidence, Pavel Shlykov writes.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/erdogan-s-new-term-what-changes-in-turkish-policy/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #Turkey #Erdoğan

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