📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 9, at 12:00 noon, a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia will take place at the Valdai Club on the topic, titled "Venezuela: Geopolitics of Unilateral Sanctions and Violations of International Law".

Sanctions pressure on Venezuela has been going on for over 15 years. The humanitarian situation in the country is constantly deteriorating. The UN has repeatedly drawn attention to the inconsistency of unilateral sanctions with the norms of international law. Sanctions not only contribute to the deterioration of a nation’s economy, but also violate fundamental human rights.

The change of power in the United States did not lead to a weakening of restrictions against Caracas. Representatives of the United States, Canada and the EU announced a possible revision of the sanctions policy; however, so far the situation has not changed.

🎙Speaker:

🇻🇪 Felix Plasencia, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela.

Moderator:

🚩 Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, Spanish.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website or call +7 926 930 77 63.

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 Meets Witn Foreign Minister of Venezuela

#valdaiclub #Venezuela

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On November 10, at 15:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?”

In September 2021, the United States, Britain and Australia entered into a trilateral defence cooperation agreement – AUKUS. The main tasks for this cooperation were named: strengthening stability in the Indo-Pacific, developing Australia's military potential and jointly combating new challenges to regional security. However, there is a reason to believe that the new agreement could undermine rather than strengthen security in the Indo-Pacific. Although officially the new alliance does not have an anti-Chinese orientation, it is obvious that its creation will lead to an increase in the presence of the participating countries in a part of the world that has traditionally been the sphere of influence of Beijing, and will become an attempt to contain China, and possibly the beginning of a new Cold War with a large-scale arms race.

A number of states, including Russia, have expressed concern that the new format for cooperation could potentially lead to a violation of the nonproliferation regime. AUKUS assumes that the nuclear powers – the United States and Britain – will transfer to Australia the technology for building nuclear submarines with conventional weapons, which could become a dangerous precedent and open a new way for the creation of nuclear weapons by a non-nuclear power. Also, this agreement has led to the termination of a multibillion-dollar contract between Australia and France for the construction of submarines. Paris considered this step a betrayal – the French ambassadors were recalled from Washington and Canberra.

❓What could be China ’s response to the creation of a new defence alliance?
❓How will the new agreement affect the relations between the United States, its European allies and Australia?
❓Could Australia become a nuclear power in the future?
❓How should Russia react to the emergence of AUKUS?

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

👥 Speakers:

🇦🇺 Salvatore Babones, Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney

🇬🇧 Andrew Futter, Professor of International Politics, University of Leicester, UK

🇷🇺 Vasily Kashin, Deputy Director at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics

🇧🇪 Sim Tack, co-founder and chief military analyst at Force Analysis                             

Moderator:

🚩 Fyodor Lukyanov, Research 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 a New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific

#valdaiclub #AUKUS

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

👑 We live on the ruins of two empires — the Russian Empire and the USSR, writes Valdai Club expert Alexei Miller.

November 2, 2021, marked 300 years since the day when Peter I proclaimed himself emperor, and Russia — an empire. In the same years, the concept of “nation” entered the Russian language and began its varied adventures. In Peter the Great’s time, the word “nation” was used almost as a synonym for empire, as a designation for sovereign polity. In this sense, there was no tension between these concepts.

we can say that in the next 300 years, the concepts of empire and nation had a very complex relationship and were used to discuss several important topics for Russia, which in many ways remain relevant today. First, this concerns the topic of relations between Russia and Europe.

In Europe, Peter’s Russia was viewed as a “barbarian at the gates” or as an “apprentice”. Russian elites easily agreed with the status of a student until they realised that they were going to be kept in this status forever, with the Europeans always being “mentors”. Then they began to listen with interest to arguments about the “decline of Europe”.

🔗 The 300th Anniversary of the Russian Empire

#Morality_and_Law #RussianEmpire #history

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇦🇲🇦🇿🇷🇺 A year ago, on November 9, 2020, thanks to the peacekeeping intervention of Russia, the Second Karabakh War ended. 

The armed conflict in the South Caucasus did not lead to significant changes in Russia’s foreign policy considerations regarding the countries that took part in it. Unlike the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the preceding coup in Kiev, when the Ukrainian state actually lost its sovereignty, both Transcaucasian powers retained the ability to make foreign policy decisions relatively independently.

Of course, there has been some strengthening of cooperation between Baku and Ankara, and now the Azerbaijani authorities are forced to listen more closely to the interests of their Turkish partners. However, in the aftermath of the conflict, Azerbaijan did not become a base for the potential deployment of forces hostile to Russia in the event of possible war.

As for Armenia, the strengthening of Russian influence there also did not lead, as one could have feared, to a disproportionate increase in Russia’s obligations towards this country or the loss of its sovereignty.

The arrival of Russian peacekeeping forces in the South Caucasus has created conditions for a more active diplomatic involvement of Moscow in regional affairs, which also reduces the likelihood that Azerbaijan or Armenia will be significantly influenced by foreign powers with potentially hostile intentions regarding Russia’s basic interests and values.

In the event that Russia’s neighbours, as a result of interaction with each other, do not lose their sovereignty in a way that benefits the United States or China, any changes in the balance of power between them have no fundamental significance for Moscow, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

🔗 The Second Karabakh War: Lessons for Russia's Neighbours

#Global_Governance #NagornoKarabakh #geopolitics

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

⏰ TODAY at 12:00 noon, a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia @plasenciafelixr will take place at the Valdai Club on the topic, titled "Venezuela: Geopolitics of Unilateral Sanctions and Violations of International Law".

Working languages: Russian, Spanish.

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.

📷 ©2021 Ariana Cubillos/AP

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

🎥 LIVE (in Spanish): at 12:00 noon, a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia will take place at the Valdai Club on the topic, titled "Venezuela: Geopolitics of Unilateral Sanctions and Violations of International Law".

Working languages: Russian, Spanish.

🔗 LIVE: Valdai Club Meets Witn Foreign Minister of Venezuela (In Spanish)

#valdaiclub #Venezuela

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇪🇺🌏 Can we expect the European Union to contribute to safeguarding regional security in Central Asia now that Afghanistan is back in the hands of the Taliban?

One thing is for sure, it is in the interest of the EU to have a stable, secure and prosperous Central Asia. As security concerns eminating from the crisis in Afghanistan have multiplied over night following the Taliban’s return to power, the region has made a dramatic resurfacing on the EU’s radar. In particular, the situation has set off alarm bells across European capitals about the possibility of a new refugee crisis emerging, as many Afghans are desperate to leave the country and go to Europe, writes Fabienne Bossuyt, Assistant Professor at Ghent University (Belgium) and professorial fellow at UNU-CRIS.

🔗 European Strategic Autonomy in Action? The EU’s Role as a Security Actor in Central Asia in the Wake of the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan

#Global_Governance #EU #Europe #CentralAsia #Afghanistan

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

⏰ TODAY at 15:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?”

❓What could be China ’s response to the creation of a new defence alliance?
❓How will the new agreement affect the relations between the United States, its European allies and Australia?
❓Could Australia become a nuclear power in the future?
❓How should Russia react to the emergence of AUKUS?

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.

📷 ©2021 Andrew Harnik / AP

🇻🇪🇷🇺 Russia and Venezuela: On the Same Side of the Sanctions Barricades

On November 9, the Valdai Club held a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia on the topic “Venezuela: Geopolitics of Unilateral Sanctions and Violations of International Law”.

Opening the event, Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, noted that Russia and Venezuela are on the same side of the barricades in world politics. He pointed to the coinciding positions of the two countries on a number of multilateral issues and their development of bilateral cooperation.

Foreign Minister Plasencia began his speech with a brief excursion into the history of the liberation of Latin America from Spanish colonialism and with a story about the Bolivarian project, which meant the unification of all the former Spanish colonies into a single state. “This project was not based on the principles of hegemony and expansion, but on the principles of integration,” he stressed, calling this a key contradiction between the Bolivarian vision of the world and the United States’ vision of the world, which was laid out in the Monroe Doctrine.

Venezuela’s integration projects, aimed at developing cooperation and preventing the exploitation of the weak by the strong, cause concern and aggression in Washington. After Venezuela’s return to Bolivarian philosophy, Washington began to view the republic as a threat to US interests. A separate negative reaction from the United States, according to Plasencia, has been elicited by the foreign policy of Venezuela, in particular the good relations of the Bolivarian Republic with Russia, China and Iran and its desire for multilateral cooperation. As a result, the United States is trying to reduce its resource base and impose sanctions aimed at limiting access to high-tech industrial goods for the servicing of the petrochemical and oil industries.

🔗 Russia and Venezuela: On the Same Side of the Sanctions Barricades

#Venezuela #Russia #UnitedStates #sanctions

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🇮🇳🇦🇫🇺🇸 India has yet to come to terms with the Taliban takeover. The Taliban cabinet consists of UN-sanctioned individuals who have committed heinous terror attacks in the past. The Taliban are not independent, writes Arvind Gupta, Director of the New Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation.

#Conflict_and_Leadership #India #Afghanistan #UnitedStates

🔗 How Will the Collapse of the Government in Afghanistan Affect Relations Between India and the United States?

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

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

🎥 LIVE: at 15:00 Moscow time (GMT+3) we are starting an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?”

🔗 LIVE: AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific? An Expert Discussion


#AUKUS #ColdWar #NewWorldOrder

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📷 Today, on November 10, the Valdai Club held an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?”

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

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

Stay tuned!

🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 AUKUS: Four Views on a Tripartite Agreement

On November 10, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?” on the possible implications of the trilateral defence cooperation agreement, concluded in September by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The discussion was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

🔹 Salvatore Babones, Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney, said that there is a broad consensus on the AUKUS pact in Australia. The Australian establishment does not care about its potential effect on the fate of relations with China — here, in their opinion there is nothing to lose, since these relations have been completely destroyed over the course of three years of disputes between China and Australia.

🔹 Talking about the European reaction to AUKUS, Sim Tack, co-founder and chief military analyst at Force Analysis, stressed that despite attempts to become a more active and independent player, Europe remains highly dependent on the United States regarding security issues, and it will not go against Washington’s global strategy.

🔹 Andrew Futter, Professor of International Politics at the University of Leicester, said that participation in AUKUS reflects the UK’s long-term desire for a transatlantic relationship with the United States and a stronger relationship with Australia. Accordingly, we are talking more about the development of already existing trends, and not something new.

🔹 Vasily Kashin, Deputy Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, stressed that what happened looks like a major defeat for Chinese foreign policy based on “dollar diplomacy”, ignoring ideological and political factors. China has long tried to put pressure on Australia, but this has only provoked Canberra to pursue irreversible actions which undermine political relations, despite Australia’s strong economic dependence on China.

🔗 AUKUS: Four Views on a Tripartite Agreement

#AUKUS #Australia #UK #UnitedStates #China

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

📝 After 140 years have passed since the writing of the economic article by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky in “A Writer’s Diary” on the ways Russia was developing. Many of the observations of our great writer remain extremely relevant. 

In this article, Dostoevsky largely anticipates such key topics for the Russian economy as the “turn to the East”, the prioritisation of long-term development guidelines (as an argument in favour of the creation of the Stabilisation Fund in our time), the fight against bureaucracy, the importance of public confidence in the economic policy of the authorities, and much more. Dostoevsky’s economic legacy can serve in our time as a kind of a moral compass for Russian economic policy.

Dostoevsky’s economic legacy can serve in our time as a kind of a moral compass for Russian economic policy, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Yaroslav Lissovolik.

🔗 Dostoevsky’s Economic Cycles

#Corporations_and_Economy #economy #Russia #Dostoevsky200

📷 © Sputnik

@valdai_club