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.
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
12/05/201211:45 Russia is wavering between China and Vietnam, and is trying to develop military and economic cooperation with both countries. Yet, Russia is finding it more and more difficult to maintain this posture without damaging its image. China shows no understanding toward efforts to deepen ties with Vietnam.
08/06/201211:42 The rapidly changing environment in the Pacific Region gives Japan and Russia an impetus to seek a better relationship based on mutual trust. The center of global economy and politics is moving to the Asia-Pacific and the image of China has been creating a certain security vacuum in this region.
07/04/201210:41 Interest in the Far East and Siberia has grown markedly in Russia over the past two years. The transfer of the capital would not only intensify the internal economic life of the region but would also promote the foreign economic ties of Siberia and the Far East, thereby integrating Russia into the international economy of the Asia-Pacific region, where its presence currently is rather weak.
06/13/201211:27 New radar systems are being put in place in Siberia and the Russian Far East to monitor the Pacific Rim. In May, a Voronezh-M early warning radar was put into operation in Russia’s Irkutsk Region near town of Usolye-Sibirskoe. New Voronezh-M and Voronezh-DM radars are planned for other regions of the country as well.
05/29/201209:49 Russia has started actively building up its presence in the region after the commissioning of Sakhalin gas deposits. After liquefying the bulk of the gas, Russia supplies it to its Asian partners. High-tech methods of liquefying natural gas can put Russia in the lead in the Asia -Pacific Region.
04/20/201212:58 Russia is facing a difficult choice. In the early 1990s, it opted for strategic partnership with China and now has a number of bilateral obligations within the framework of the 2001 Russian-Chinese Treaty of Friendship. At the same time, Russia has been trying to balance the excessive influence of Chinese business in the Russian Far East.
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.
02/06/201212:13 If 2011 witnessed the United States’ “return to the Asia-Pacific,” the focus of U.S. foreign policy in 2012 appears to be to promote its entire Asia-Pacific strategy through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In this context, what people need to understand is why the United States needs the TPP strategy and what impacts the TPP strategy will have for the United States, the Asia-Pacific region, and the rest of the world.
01/23/201212:49 The international situation in 2011 was extremely turbulent, it was a year of fundamental geopolitical, geoeconomic and popular shifts in the Middle East. Like the rest of the world, Russia tried to adapt itself to the situation, at least to minimize the damage. For Russia it was necessary to react, and fortunately not to participate directly.
