On May 16, Valdai International Discussion Club held a round-table discussion «Russia and the West: new stage of relationship». The framework of the round table also included a presentation of the Russian edition of Alexander Rahr’s book Where Will Putin Go? Russia Between China and Europe (original title Der kalte Freund. Warum wir Russland brauchen: Die Insider-Analyse).
Following up on the Moscow conference on missile defense and ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago the Valdai Discussion Club convened foreign and Russian experts to discuss the future of Russia-NATO relations.
The fifth conference of the Working Group on the future of Russian-U.S. relations is to be held on May 17 - 20 in Moscow.
The theses contained in the report “Russia should not miss its chance: Development scenarios” were prepared by the working group comprising Russian and international experts ahead of the VIII annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting, themed “2011-2012 Elections and the Future of Russia. Development Scenarios for the Next 5-8 Years”.
The Valdai Index represents the combined opinion of leading world experts that participated in Valdai Club conferences with respect to Russia’s development in the political, economic, social, cultural and international spheres. Download Russia Development Index 2010-2011 in Russian (PDF)
The report examines how the Russia’s and United States` ties with the countries in post-Soviet Eurasia affect the bilateral relationship. The authors argue that despite the initial successes of the “reset” in Russia-U.S. relations, disputes relating to post-Soviet Eurasia represent “a ‘landmine’ in Russia -U.S. relations that could ‘detonate’ at any time and seriously complicate cooperation on other issues.
On April 2-5, the Valdai Discussion Club assisted a delegation of the LSE’s Grimshaw Club to get a feel of Russia through a series of meetings with the Valdai Members.
Russian and foreign experts discussed the outlook for the scientific and technological cooperation between Russia and NATO in the field of European missile defense system and the level of threat that such a system may pose to Russia. Other issues included potential changes in U.S. and Russian approaches to building such a system.
The Arab Spring has shifted the balance in the Middle East, highlighting new problems and challenges for Russia and other regional and extra-regional powers.
Russia’s Sochi played host to the Valdai Discussion Club Middle East section’s conference “Transformation in the Arab World and Russia’s Interests” on February 17-18, 2012.
On May 7, a few hours after his presidential inauguration, Vladimir Putin signed a decree for a strategic program on the development of Russian education. One of its chief aims is to ensure that a number of Russian universities enter the ranking of the world’s top 100 universities.
The aim of the protests was quite simple. The political process behind the demonstrations against Vladimir Putin and for fair elections has now become irreversibly transformed into a technological one.
For Washington, Putin’s doubts about the G-8’s capacity to accomplish anything significant and his close relations with China should turn on the red light with regards to the hallowed U.S.-Russian “reset” policy.
In the Muslim community in Russia actual religious and spiritual problems are fading into the background, while the clergy are focused on fighting for leadership and their own financial wellbeing.
