🇷🇺🇩🇿 Russia and Algeria have a long history of economic and military cooperation, dating back to the Soviet era.

In recent years, this relationship has been reinforced by a shared interest in countering US dominance and promoting a multipolar world.

Algeria’s role in this relationship is significant, as it provides Russia with access to important resources and markets in the region. This, in turn, gives Russia a strong foothold in the MENA region, which is a key strategic area for its global interests.

Algeria’s strong ties to Russia are helping to counterbalance US dominance and promote a more stable and equitable world order, where multiple actors have the ability to shape global events and influence the future, writes Algerian political journalist Akram Kharief.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-end-of-us-hegemony-and-the-russian-algerian/

📌 This article was prepared for the 12th Middle East conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

#mideastvaldai #Algeria

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📷 Session 2 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Implications for the Middle East.”

Follow this link to see the photos.

#mideastvaldai

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📷 Session 3 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “Logistics of the 21st century: Prospects for a New North-South Transport Corridor.”

Follow this link to see the photos.

#mideastvaldai

@valdai_club

🛤 The emergence of “New Economic Order” would transform the way logistics and transport in global market is being carried out.

In the wake of Special Military Operation in Ukraine, the Russian economy is adapting its logistics to tackle the emerging situation, to deal with the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union.

Russia is improving its ties with non-Western allies particularly Asia and Eurasia for market diversification. As a result, Russia is giving major attention to long delayed International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which is now being considered as the potential economic pathway for Russia against the sanctions.

The North-South Transport Corridor member countries must contribute effectively for the overall development of corridor i.e., the improvement of inland waterways, security of container and general cargo terminals in Caspian ports, the modernization of border crossing points and the construction of logistics hubs and roadside service facilities, writes Muhammad Athar Javed, founder, CEO of Pakistan House, especially for the 12th Valdai Club Middle East conference.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/logistics-of-the-21st-century-new-economic-order/

#mideastvaldai #Eurasia #transportation

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📌 Programme of the second day of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference “The New Middle East and the Security Crisis in Europe: Effects of Mutual Influence”

📆 March 1, Wednesday

10:30–12:00 — Session 4. Key Energy Trends: OPEC+, Russia’s Role, Reformatting the Global Market (live broadcast)

The West’s economic war against Russia is stimulating a repartition of the global energy market. While the US is focused on forcing Russia out of the European market, the Asian states are becoming the main source of demand. This is where the interests of Moscow and the OPEC+ states coincide. What do the main trends in global energy look like and how sustainable are they in crisis conditions? How likely are dramatic changes in the global market structure?

12:30–14:00 — Session 5. The Age of Sovereignty: Key Middle Eastern Countries’ Foreign Policy Priorities (live broadcast)

International order in the Middle East is once again in the hands of the states of the region, rather than external forces. The main regional centres of influence, such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Algeria, and others are participating in the process of creating a new security system. What are the strategies of the states in the region? What role do they see for themselves in the emerging polycentric world order?

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/programme-of-the-12th-middle-east-conference-of-the-valdai-discussion-club-the-new-middle-east-and-t/

Open sessions will be broadcast on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, Twitter, VKontakte, Telegram and Zen.

#mideastvaldai #valdaiclub #valdai_programme #MiddleEast

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🎥 LIVE: At 10:30 a.m. Moscow time Session 4 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “Key Energy Trends: OPEC+, Russia’s Role, Reformatting the Global Market,” will start.

Live broadcast in English

Live broadcast in Arabic

Live broadcast in Russian

#mideastvaldai #Middleeast #OPEC

@valdai_club

📷 Session 4 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “Key Energy Trends: OPEC+, Russia’s Role, Reformatting the Global Market”

Photo gallery.

The video of the session is available via this link.

#mideastvaldai #Middleeast #OPEC

@valdai_club

🎥 LIVE: Session 5 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “The Age of Sovereignty: Key Middle Eastern Countries’ Foreign Policy Priorities,” will start at 12:30 p.m. Moscow time.

Live broadcast in English.

Live broadcast in Arabic.

Live broadcast in Russian.

#mideastvaldai #Middleeast #OPEC

@valdai_club

📷 Session 5 of the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, titled “The Age of Sovereignty: Key Middle Eastern Countries’ Foreign Policy Priorities”

Photo gallery

The video of the session is available via this link.

#mideastvaldai #MiddleEast #OPEC

🌍 Russia and the Middle East in the Context of the Global Reshuffle of Forces

On Tuesday, February 28, the 12th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Club opened in Moscow. Its theme is "The New Middle East and the Security Crisis in Europe: Effects of Mutual Influence".

The conference is being attended by about 50 leading experts on the region, current politicians and intellectuals from 18 countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Iran, China, Kuwait, Lebanon, UAE, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkiye.

At the beginning of the conference, Mikhail Bogdanov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, read Sergey Lavrov's greeting message to the participants. In turn, session moderator Vitaly Naumkin, scientific director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled Russia's proposal to create an inclusive security system in the Middle East and invited the speakers to share their views on the on-going reshuffle of forces in the region.

The second, closed-door session of the conference was devoted to the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis for the Middle East. The leitmotif of the discussion was the thesis that the United States had failed to attract anyone to the anti-Russian coalition, except for those who are already subject to binding relations with Washington. The matter is not about supporting Russia, but about the unwillingness of the countries of the Global South to follow the instructions of the United States.

During the third session, the prospects for the North-South transport corridor were discussed: how transport routes have changed amid a crisis situation, and what opportunities appear for new logistics projects on the continent.

Read more about the sessions: https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/russia-and-the-middle-east-in-the-context-of-the-global-reshuffle-of-forces/

#mideastvaldai #MiddleEast

@valdai_club

🌍 Every crisis carries with it an opportunity for a solution. This current US crisis in managing the world we live in today, with the chaos it has generated in Europe and the Middle East, has presented a clear opportunity.

This opportunity has manifested in the distancing of all the main forces from US dominance and the emergence of a new trend to reshape their regional system in a more independent and balanced way, writes Amal Abu Zeid, Lebanese presidential adviser, especially for the 12th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-middle-east-and-security-crisis-in-europe/

#mideastvaldai #MiddleEast

@valdai_club

⛽️ OPEC+ is an expanded format of OPEC, formed in November 2016, which includes 10 more countries led by Russia (14% of world oil production) to regulate the oil market. OPEC+ controls 55% of the world's oil supplies and 90% of proven reserves.

OPEC+ countries in October 2022 reduced the quota for oil production by 2 million barrels per day and extended the deal until 2023.

Especially for the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference, we prepared an infographic on OPEC+. The high-res infographic is available on the website.

#mideastvaldai #valdai_infographics #OPEC #oil

@valdai_club

🇹🇷🇷🇺 Turkey’s multi-dimensional foreign policy exercises of late have given rise to endless speculations and contradictions across the world and in particular in the West.

It is epitomized by the Turkish President’s meetings with his Russian, Ukrainian and Iranian counterparts as well as his meetings with his Western partners, including Biden.

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict Ankara has been pursuing a noticeably restrained and well-balanced policy without taking part in the western sanctions but at the same time keeping up its relations with its western partners closely.

Having rid itself of almost all its Middle-Eastern entanglements, which have cost Ankara an arm and a leg over the last decade or so, Turkey now stands to benefit from the opportunities accruing from a multipolar world order, something that it has become an unstoppable reality, however much the US and the Collective West are still trying to prevent it, but to no avail.

Turkey’s rapprochement with Russia does not seem to be circumstantial. It is true that, as its relations with the West and particularly the US are going through tough times Ankara turns to Russia for more cooperation but it is also true that Ankara would remain on this mutually beneficial track more firmly at a time of multipolarity just as it always sought good relations with the Soviet Union in the inter-war period, particularly in the 1920s and 30s, writes Hasan Ünal, Professor at Maltepe University, Istanbul.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/turkish-russian-rapprochement-imultipolar-world/

📌 This article was prepared for the 12th Middle East conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

#mideastvaldai #MiddleEast #Turkey #multipilarity

@valdai_club

🌍 The Middle East: Finding a New Agency

On Wednesday, March 1st, the 12th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club ended. During the final day of the conference, the participants discussed the most important trends in the energy sector and the foreign policy priorities of the key countries in the Middle East.

Speakers of the session “Key Energy Trends: OPEC+, Russia’s Role, Reformatting the Global Market” discussed the future of the oil deal, as well as answered the question why the countries of the Middle East do not seek to replace Russian suppliers in Western European markets, but enter into schemes to help Russia sell its oil.

The last session of the conference was devoted to the growing agency of the countries of the Middle East and their foreign policy priorities. 

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/the-middle-east-finding-a-new-agency/

#mideastvaldai #MiddleEast

@valdai_club

🇷🇺🇮🇷 The sharp aggravation of Russia’s relations with the Western countries after the start of the Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and the strengthening of Western sanctions pressure on Russia, have radically changed the international geopolitical landscape and given a serious impetus to the rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran. Iran has been under tough Western sanctions for more than 40 years, and is subjected to constant military and political threats.

Today the West, primarily the United States and its European allies, are making active efforts to inflict a military and geopolitical defeat on Russia, plunge it into a deep economic crisis, and isolate it in the international arena.

Iran is in a similar situation of increasing military-political and economic pressure from the West. The United States, which has not been able to overcome the syndrome of impotence and hostility towards Iran which has defined Washington’s approach since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, continues to impose new sanctions against Iran in an effort to further aggravate the social-economic crisis in this country. Washington won’t go to compromise in order to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem (JCPOA); it threatens to use military force if Tehran approaches the so-called “nuclear threshold” in the development of its nuclear programme.

Under these conditions, Moscow and Tehran, within the framework of the proclaimed “pivot to the East”, have actively begun to strengthen ties and cooperation with states that have not succumbed to American domination and want to develop friendly relations with the Russian Federation and Iran.

The emerging geopolitical realities create objective prerequisites for rapprochement between Moscow and Tehran, for the activation and expansion of cooperation in the military-political, trade, economic, scientific, technical and other fields, in order to neutralize the consequences of military threats and sanctions pressure from the West, as well as its attempts to isolate Russia and Iran and prevent the formation of a new world order, writes Valdai Club expert Alexander Maryasov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russian-iranian-relations-amid-a-new-geopolitical-/

#ModernDiplomacy #mideastvaldai #Iran

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💧🌍 Water Scarcity in the Middle East
 
The Middle East and North Africa occupy about 15% of the Earth’s land area,  about 5% of the world’s inhabitants live there. The region has less than 1% of the world’s renewable water resources.

By 2050, the population of the region will increase by 57% and reach 770 million people. Water supplies will be reduced to critical 500 m3 per person.

📌 The video infographic is prepared for the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference.

#mideastvaldai #valdai_infographics #WaterScarcity #MiddleEast #NorthAfrica #MENA

@valdai_club

🌍 Polycentricity carries with it enormous risks, especially for a region like the Middle East.

📍 On the one hand, without external control and dominant external forces, new regional problems and lines of confrontation will appear.

📍 On the other hand, without American involvement in regional affairs, some long-standing crises will no longer be fuelled from outside, and their dynamics will no longer be vital for the countries of the region.

Therefore, old contradictions may soften, and countries will look for new ground for cooperation.

The region remains one of the most important centres of concentration of Russia’s efforts to pivot to the East. Moscow sees this as a strengthening of its strategic autonomy and a way to maintain its foreign policy initiative in a changing world.

The crisis of the unipolar order in Europe shows Russia’s policy towards the countries of the East and South in a new light — for Moscow, these areas are now becoming major nodes of foreign policy activity.

Moreover, Russian-Western economic relations are now largely mediated by the countries of the East — the Arab states, Turkey, and the countries of Central Asia.

For Russia, this is a chance to strengthen its influence and expand its circle of partners, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Andrey Sushentsov.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/impact-of-the-european-crisis-on-the-middle-east/

#ModernDiplomacy #mideastvaldai #MiddleEast

@valdai_club

🇷🇺🇮🇱 Russian–Israeli relations are formally a little over thirty years old but, in fact, date back to May 17, 1948 – three days after Israel gained its independence. 

🔹 The Soviet Union, the Russian Federation’s predecessor, was the first country to recognize the State of Israel.

🔹 It is imperative that Israel cooperates with Russia because Israel’s national security passes through Moscow.

Hopefully, neither establishment pushes their respective leadership to the extreme, whether in bilateral relations or in the geopolitical arena, because working together will keep Israel, the Middle East, Russia, and the international community safe, writes Zach Battat, Junior Researcher at the Middle East & Central Asia Research Center.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/russian-israeli-relations-and-the-ukrainian-crisis/

📌 The article was prepared for the Valdai Club 12th Middle East Conference.

#ModernDiplomacy #mideastvaldai #mideastvaldai

@valdai_club