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.
04/19/201310:29 Moscow’s primary challenge is to prevent an armed conflict on the Korean peninsula, which would most likely cause an environmental catastrophe in the neighboring Russian Far East. Moscow is not interested in an American military operation near Russia’s borders. In this respect, Russia’s aims are nearly identical to China’s interests.
04/10/201313:11 Pyongyang is trying to mobilize North Korean society around the new leader Kim Jong Un and to convince North Koreans that their young but bold leader is standing up to US imperialists. On the other hand, North Korea wants to pressure the United States and force it to continue dialogue.
03/29/201310:32 Although multilateral cooperation on nuclear issues has been effective in some cases, such as in ratifying the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it has been inadequate in others, such as in easing tensions with Iran and North Korea. In fact, even when China, Russia, and the US share the same agenda, their differing diplomatic tactics often undermine their ability to achieve their objectives.
03/21/201310:16 Xi’s visit is not expected to usher in any breakthroughs. Meanwhile, the Sino-Russian relationship has achieved an unprecedented degree of warmth. The Chinese are doing almost everything possible to placate Russian concerns. The old border disputes have been silenced. The volume of trade is growing rapidly.
03/11/201310:35 The attitude of Russians to the United States is largely determined by the latter’s military and political activities. At the same time a mere 18% of Russians have negative impressions of the United States. As for Americans’ views on Russians, they are generally positive despite anti-Russian rhetoric in the media.
03/06/201310:03 Kazakhstan needs a more effective mechanism of cooperation with Russia in space exploration and other joint projects. If Russia leaves Baikonur, its place will immediately be taken by the United States, the EU and China. So the Baiterek space launch complex will be created at Baikonur anyway.
03/04/201310:26 Russia is located on so many geopolitical fault lines that some events are bound to take place near its border. However they do not pose a direct threat to Russia but rather risks related to growing instability and its potential to spread to our territory.
02/22/201310:24 Instead of establishing a new state-owned corporation, the government should take a completely different approach to making Siberia and the Far East prosperous. Russia is a natural balancing force in the region, rather than just China’s sidekick. Yet, for some reason, this is more evident when the situation is viewed from Siberia rather than from Moscow
02/19/201311:18 The common opinion of many experts at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is that the past decade has witnessed a more or less established balance of approaches within the organization concerning its future development. This balance entailed China promoting the idea of closer economic cooperation with SCO members, while Russia stressed political and security aspects of multilateral collaboration.
02/12/201310:15 Relations between any two major powers is always a mix of cooperation and competition. Rather, a strategic dialogue seeks to expand the strategic opportunities of each country to advance its interests, while mitigating the consequences of the inevitable continuing differences.
![The medium-range RSD-10 Pioneer missile system [NATO reporting name, SS-20], which had three 150-kiloton multiple independently targeted warheads, was scrapped under the 1987 Soviet-US Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.](http://valdaiclub.com/media/index_list/e3/26575.jpg "The medium-range RSD-10 Pioneer missile system [NATO reporting name, SS-20], which had three 150-kiloton multiple independently targeted warheads, was scrapped under the 1987 Soviet-US Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty.")
