Valdai Club

The host countries’ societies do not always appreciate a seemingly obvious fact: migrants are not just a “workforce” or some “median population.” They move from one country to another in search of jobs and better life opportunities. They have their own problems and vulnerabilities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely limited international migration due to border closures and has forced millions of people to return home. According to expert estimates, the pandemic reduced the number of international migrants by the middle of 2020 by about 2 million people: to 281 million people instead of the expected 283 million people.

The way the current crisis is resolved will have a direct impact both on the state of the world economy and on politics, as well as on the outcome of the American election campaign.

The United States continues to slide into a deep system-wide crisis, and some aspects, especially the attitude of the Washington elite who look down on the majority of the US population, are reminiscent of the trends observed in the late Soviet Union.

The US-China trade wars will last as long as Donald Trump remains in the White House. Trump’s policy towards China has both strategic and tactical aspects, but weakening China is the main goal of his foreign policy as it was formulated by Steve Bannon .

The crisis in Venezuela grows more complex with each passing day. At first, President Nicolas Maduro declared that he was willing to consider the possibility of early parliamentary elections. But it is clear that this proposal is absolutely unacceptable for the opposition, which already wields a majority in the legislature and has the US firmly behind it.

Trump’s foreign policy rests on three major premises: first, the center of the world system, which was for half a millennium located in Europe and then, in the North Atlantic, is quickly shifting from there to the Northern Pacific, and will be located now between the US and China. Respectively, China is quickly becoming the United States rival, while Europe is losing its military, political, and economic importance.

Last week, Donald Trump demonstrated the stark contrast between the way he talks with Vladimir Putin who, albeit an opponent, is still the head of a great power, and the way he talks with European leaders, seen as vassals. At a meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker on July 25, the US president called a spade a spade once again and sent Europe a clear message that the western alliance is not a union of equals anymore. No matter how the trade war ends for Europe, the rules of the game have changed, said Andrei Korobkov, Professor of political science at the Middle Tennessee State University, in an interview with valdaiclub.com.