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.
Putin’s plan to create a Eurasian Union may actually not be a bad idea, but the proof will be in the implementation.
The united Europe will have to pay for its triumphalism, errors of the past and too rapid and unconditional enlargement of the EU and eurozone. It will have to pay for rejecting structural reforms by an overwhelming majority of countries (with the exception of Germany and several North European states) which they opted for on the wave of the euphoria, as the fall of the Iron Curtain and economic opening of China caused an extensive expansion of markets.
The crisis in Western Europe at its core consists of low economic growth, poor economic and political governance, and high sovereign debts of European countries, but the effects of international speculative attacks on the EU could easily spillover to Russia. If Russia were to dramatically reduce its oil exports to Western Europe, the effects will be severe on the economy of the West as a whole.
Another black-and-white stripe for Russia-NATO relations is the defunct Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty). Although it is not strictly correct to describe it as defunct (since it is still valid in all European countries apart from Russia), it is not a full-blown treaty without the participation of Russia.
Russia and NATO regularly make real steps towards greater cooperation. It must be understood, however, that normal relations will not be established until the internal conceptual obstacles to real rapprochement are removed.
Russia is not a transit country between China and Europe at the moment because of the poor condition of Russian railways, because of the high tariffs and many other things. Russia is about to develop itself as a transit partner for the European and Asian market but not yet.
The Russophobia that has been nurtured for years in Poland can be seen in the behavior of football fans. But we should view them as marginal, isolated incidents that have little bearing on the steadily improving Polish-Russian relations.
In light of the present situation in the Middle East, Russia and Israel find themselves facing common challenges. Under these newly emerging situations, Russia sees its partnership with Israel as a potential asset in resolving acute regional issues. From a Russian perspective, the compatibility of Israeli and Russian interests could contribute to such a partnership.
The failure of the Islamist political parties who came to power in the dramatic events of the Arab Spring would allow the military to reenter the political arena. Political Islam was successful in the opposition, but it could fail in power, as the negative experience of Egypt and Iraq have shown.
The agreement made in Cairo on forming a national unity government will allow the Palestinians to overcome discord and begin integration of all government structures.
The Lebanese experience in resolving inter-religious conflict may provide clues for resolving the situation in Syria, said Secretary General of the Lebanese National Dialogue Party Fouad Makhzoumi at the Valdai Club Middle East Dialogue in Morocco. About 100 political and public figures and experts on the Middle East from Russia, the Middle East and North Africa and the West are discussing the future of political Islam in the Arab world.
