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.
The Russian-Venezuelan military technical cooperation is bound to wither away gradually following Chavez’s death under any political scenario. Venezuela has contracted more weapons than it needs and its market is close to saturation. It will most likely honor its contracts with Russia as long as the supporters of Chavez remain in power, but new contracts are unlikely.
Russia’s positions in Venezuela will weaken in the long term, but considering that energy and arms cooperation will benefit both Russia and Venezuela, it will continue in the next few years. Even if the opposition comes to power, all the arms that have been supplied so far won’t be dumped – they will have to be used and serviced.
Through increasing the level of its cooperation with Brazil and other Latin American countries Russia and China are trying to strengthen their geopolitical influence and presence in this region at a time when the U.S. position in this region has been neglected.
The BRICS must learn to appreciate their global role, to turn into an active global force – not only responding to issues as they arise but architects of the new world order.
BRICS leaders are set to meet on beautiful Hainan Island in China to plan for their future development. This important event will contribute to the recent progress made in international politics and the global economy. A new international structure is emerging and taking the place of the past Western-centric one.
Russian-Venezuelan relations have very good prospects. However, there is a chance that this collaboration may slow down or suffer disruption following a change in power in Venezuela. That is why interstate relations should never be built upon personal ties with specific political leaders, but on a more solid foundation.
Russian-Venezuelan relations are developing quite normally, although there is certainly no cause for euphoria. Regimes like the one in Venezuela are rather unstable, as the history of Latin America repeatedly shows. This was confirmed once more by the recent failed coup in Honduras and ensuing events. In light of this, Chavez is trying to strengthen his position in all aspects of his domestic and foreign policies.
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.
