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.
03/13/201211:35 The new Russian president will be confronted with complex tasks in the Asian Pacific Region. Moscow will need to preserve good relations with China, find an economic counterbalance to influential Chinese businesses in the Far East and expand its trade relations with ASEAN. The main thing is to avoid having to choose between the US and China amid mounting U.S.-China contradictions.
03/12/201210:34 Putin has to decide whether he has to get rid of some people, how many, who and so on. Or he can ignore this public demand for new faces and bring his own team, his St. Petersburg team, or the people who have been around him for the past 20 years, and keep them, ignoring the public mood for changes in government.
03/12/201209:58 Why did Putin win? First, he had many advantages over other candidates. Second, in his two previous presidential terms he scored impressive achievements. In particular, he curtailed separatist trends in the country, pushing back against the substantial gains made by separatists in Dagestan and Chechnya.
03/11/201209:39 Vladimir Putin is definitely a great leader and he can definitely do a lot for the Russian people, but he has to think about how the next generation, how younger people are coming up in the world. So during his next tenure he should try to groom a new leader whom he can bring into power.
03/02/201210:28 Is there a big margin between Russian political elites and the public? Why do people criticize the recent Duma elections in a way that has not been seen since the beginning of Putin’s administration? Is there a threat to Russian democracy which could lead to chaos and a breakdown of normal political life? How popular is Mr. Putin notwithstanding these protests and how long can he enjoy such popularity in the years ahead?
03/02/201210:25 How do the Russian people feel about liberal democracy and transparency mechanisms in their country? Through waves of modernization Russian society is becoming more transparent. The well-educated younger generation is becoming more actively involved in the important issues of the country, and the number of multinational companies doing business in Russia and the number of Russian companies doing business in various regions of the world are increasing rapidly.
03/01/201208:53 Vladimir Putin highlighted the need “to catch the Chinese wind in the sails of our economy” and to “work toward creating a harmonious community of economies from Lisbon to Vladivostok,” which is in line with the concept of the “Alliance of Europe” proposed by Valdai Club experts in 2010. It is logical that Russia is ready to help Europe, because the European Union is Russia’s largest trade partner and export market.
02/29/201214:44 Unlike Western politicians, Putin does not perceive the development of China as a strategic threat. He clearly states that Chinese economic growth is not a threat to Russia, but rather, that Russia perceives this as a challenge with a huge potential for mutually beneficial cooperation.
02/28/201215:05 Putin's article is not confrontational. The presidential candidate leaves enough room for cooperation and rapprochement with Western partners. It is clear from the article that Russia is pinning great hopes on relations with Asia, China in particular.
02/28/201213:58 Every new president updates a foreign policy concept and there is no doubt that this will be done.
