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.
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.
Some observers nastily called the alliance of Venezuela, Iran and Russia “VIRUS.” The question is, whether the VIRUS has already spread, or is likely to spread, to Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, North Korea, and possibly China.
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.
