Valdai Club

On October 18, Valdai Discussion Club held its Plenary Session with participation of President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

On October 18, during the 15th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club, its participants held a meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The sixth session of the Valdai Club's 15th Annual Meeting was dedicated to the topic: "Foreign Policy in Uncertain Times: Pursuing Development in a Changing World".

The Valdai Club has explored this topic at each of its last three meetings. Participants will seek to understand international events in order to visualize the world order that might emerge in the coming decades. What challenges could these changes pose for Russia’s development? How can and should Russia influence the formation of that world order to make it better suit not only Russia’s security interests, but also its ability to ensure social stability and economic development?

Meeting with Yang Jiechi, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist party of China and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of CPC Central Committee.

October 17 was the third day of the work of Valdai Discussion Club's 15th Annual Meeting.

On October 17, during the 15th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club, its participants held a meeting with Valery Gergiev, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, on the topic: "My View of Russia".

On October 17, during the 15th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club, its participants held a meeting with Tigran Sargsyan, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

On October 17, during the 15th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Club, its participants held a meeting with Maxim Akimov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

On October 17, during its 15th Annual Meeting, the Valdai Discussion Club held a special session titled "War of the Future: What should We Prepare for?"

Russia holds leading positions in the military sphere. Therefore, experts have been looking closely at its operation in Syria: not only in the context of Russia’s military capabilities, but also in terms of general evolution of warfare. At the Valdai Club’s special session, prominent specialists in the sphere of military research and international security will discuss what kind of conflicts can be expected in the future and how the states will react to them.

The fifth session of the Valdai Club's 15th Annual Meeting was dedicated to the topic: "The Demands of Society and Responses by the State".

Societal structures, priorities, and demands are changing rapidly, posing serious challenges to those in authority and forcing them to modify their ideas about what constitutes “correct” policy. A number of countries have attempted to discredit this trend by labeling it as “populism.” Such efforts, however, will prove futile at halting what has become a worldwide process. Russia is no stranger to this problem, but it proposes a different model for interacting with society. The state must become more attentive to the demands of society. In addition, the demands themselves are becoming more complex – both in terms of structure (due to educational and demographic changes as well as migration), and in terms of citizens’ ability to influence state policy. Technologies are expanding those possibilities, and the demand for information transparency forces the state to be much more responsive.