On March 29, the Valdai Club hosted a meeting of Fyodor Lukyanov, its Research Director, with young American and European experts as part of the Meeting Russia public diplomacy program.
The meeting participants discussed, in particular, the perception gap between Russia and the West with regard to the ongoing global developments. It is huge. And one of the reasons behind it is that older generation politicians and experts are influenced by the Cold War experience. The new generation of the establishment may be free from these prejudices, Lukyanov said.
The world has become multipolar and the key issue today is what modus operandi should be chosen as the West is losing its leading positions. Russia cannot remain a Europe-centric country amid the rise of Asia.
The discussion also covered the issues of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy as well as the economy. In particular, the dynamics of changes in these spheres over the past 30 years was discussed. Russia will have to adapt to the new conditions, it was noted, and this will undoubtedly require new competences.
