The Valdai Discussion Club is for the first time holding a conference in Yerevan. This is a part of a program to study the regional components of global processes. It will not discuss Russian-Armenian relations.
The task is to analyze with colleagues the transformations in the vast region, ranging from the Middle East to Central Eurasia, including the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.
The South Caucasus is very important because it is at the crossroads of several important processes. In particular, Armenia is affected by events in the Middle East. Because of the Syrian war, several thousand ethnic Armenians arrived to the country, while Iran, as a neighbor of Armenia, is now in the midst of new political tensions.
On the other hand, the Eurasian integration is a very important process, with the formation of the new Eurasian community, which is still not fully framed.
What will we get from the forthcoming discussions is not very clear. There is a hope that we can manage to work out an integrated approach. The Club will not be limited only by Armenia and will continue to analyze events through the prism of other parts of Eurasia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and other countries. Small countries have begun to play an increasingly significant role in the world.