4th annual conference of the Middle East Dialogue of the Valdai International Discussion Club, titled “Islam in Politics: Ideology or Pragmatism?”, will take place in Marrakesh, Morocco, on May 14-15.
Issues of commonalities and differences in the Muslim communities of Russia and Canada, as well as problems of their integration into the legal frameworks of their respective countries, were the main topics of discussion at the conference Muslims in Russia, the CIS, and Canada: Cohabitation and Cooperation
The conference Muslims in Russia, the CIS, and Canada: Cohabitation and Cooperation presented by Carleton’ Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Department of Political Science, the Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam, and the Valdai Discussion Club is to be held on March 8, 2013 at the Carleton University, Ottawa.
The analytical report “Russia’s Economy: after Transformation, before Modernization” was prepared after discussions at the Valdai Discussion Club Summit held on October 21–22, 2012. The report incorporates many of the conclusions on Russia’s political development contained in the 2011 Valdai report “Russia Should Not Miss Its Chance: Development Scenarios”.
The Russia Development Index (Valdai Index) reflects the combined opinion of the world's leading experts on Russia as regards Russia’s political, economic, social, cultural and international performance. The annual poll aims to study changes in Russia’s development trends over a year. It is important that respondents assess not the current situation, but changes.
The analytical report “Military Reform: Toward the New Look of the Russian Army” summarizes the results of the conference of the Valdai Discussion Club Defense and Security section titled “Modernization of Russia’s Armed Forces and Cooperation in International Security” which was held on May 25-27, 2011 in Moscow.
While in 2011 the Internet economy accounted for just 1% of Russia’s GDP, it was expected to grow at a rate of about 30% in 2012. Russian IT companies are going global. Some Russian national giants are buying foreign assets and considering a gradual expansion into foreign markets.
The contest for control of Russia’s oil industry has been an integral feature of the country’s politics ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Therefore, an assessment of political elite dynamics and the competition for control over Russia’s oil sector can explain why this industry has been subject to such rapid management changes, including the rise and demise of Russia’s private oil corporations and the emergence of Rosneft as a national oil company (NOC).
The political and economic community and experts are well aware that Medvedev is, willingly or unwillingly, one of the top-ranking officials in Putin’s vertical of power. His political future depends more on Vladimir Putin and less on himself, and, of course, the most important factor is the political, economic and social atmosphere in Russia over the next five years.
As for Russia’s main interests in the Arctic, they concern developing shelf resources, training personnel, building roads, and so on. Energy security is also a vital element of life in Arctic settlements. The Arctic communities have huge potential for cooperation.
The Forum in Davos may or may not be giving new answers to looming questions – but it is a suitable venue for world leaders to embrace opportunities. The issues of globalization, sustainable and secure economic growth and other trans-boundary phenomena shall lead the discussions to where the most advanced nations are looking at the developing world.
The development of Siberia and the Russian Far East is impossible without relations with China. We should not shut ourselves off from China, but cooperate with it: to identify the competitive advantages of the Transbaikal and the Russian Far East; to evaluate the real, and not the imaginary demand of the Chinese market for certain goods and services from Siberia and the Russian Far East.
For Russia, South Stream is above all an instrument for enhancing the reliability of gas supplies to Europe, which is the key consumer of Russian natural gas. In terms of profitability, Gazprom’s investment in the project will be partly compensated by the revenues of Russian steel and pipe-building companies, which will provide their products for the pipeline.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is one of the most important foreign policy initiatives taken by Russia along with five other countries. Both Russia and China want to reduce the threat of separatism and western influence in the region. Emergence of SCO provoked new international order.
Iran has made varying degrees of progress down the tracks—enrichment, weaponization and delivery system—needed to have a viable nuclear weapon. How far will it proceed? One option is to build a bomb and, to show the world its nuclear prowess, conduct a test. But that option poses real risks for the Iranian government.
The current contract portfolio of Russian arms exporters is worth about $46 billion. Annual exports total $15 billion, and this will ensure uninterrupted deliveries for the next three years, even in the worst-case scenario. The list of the main buyers of Russian weapons is unlikely to change drastically.
Why did Russian officials choose to make Fogle’s case so public and then insist that it was unlikely to affect U.S.-Russia relations? The official explanation for this is that Moscow had already asked the United States to stop trying to recruit its intelligence officers—which seems like a silly and unrealistic request, since Russian agencies seem unlikely to halt similar steps in the United States—and that officials were frustrated after handling a similar case quietly earlier this year.
