The third session of the Valdai Club's 15th Annual Meeting was dedicated to the topic: "Culture as the Cornerstone and a Tool of Politics".
Disputes over cultural policy are escalating into political clashes all around the world. As the process of globalization advances, culture has become the principal criterion by which peoples define their identity and position themselves in relation to the surrounding world. This is true of every country and society, but holds particular significance for Russia, a country of unusual diversity with a rich cultural heritage dating back centuries. Although, ideally, the principles of “a world without borders” and “the search for self-identity” should complement each other, in practice they have often come into conflict on cultural grounds. Russian cultural figures and representatives of government bodies - about the role that culture will play during the current period of change.