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.
09/21/201215:07 The protest movement needs to radically change its tactics, by focusing on the elections and election monitoring missions, which in itself are a great resource. Obviously, this new tactic will drive away some of the activists in Moscow, but in general the public has already been energized. At this stage the opposition needs to focus on long-term efforts to create structures in the regions.
08/23/201210:31 While the government was busy safeguarding the country’s territorial integrity and its international position, Russians adopted many Western concepts, such as the ideology of consumption. The government’s inability to meet their new economic and political needs may generate many problems and challenges that Putin will have to face.
08/22/201210:20 So far Russian protesters are not anti-systemic – they are just counterrevolutionary (if what we saw in Russia from 1991 - 2012 was a revolution). They are nationalistic and do not think about the restoration of the past, rather about the replacement of the current ruling group. That will be the main challenge for Russia next electoral cycle.
08/17/201213:36 No matter what Putin does, he is unlikely to change the views of those who consider him an “enemy of democracy.” The majority of our society continues to regard Putin as all but the most lucky and successful leader. When he became president for the first time, Russia had a smaller economy than Belgium.
08/09/201211:12 Putin, and the conservative advisers he is currently listening to, have yet to show that they realize the scale of the political change that is taking place in Russia. It is generational. It is an awakening, and once awake people will not go back to sleep so soon.
06/29/201212:51 It is difficult to split the opposition any further. It has demonstrated a complete inability to come to terms. Navalny’s work for Aeroflot can’t deepen the rift between the opposition leaders because their political, economic and even philosophical views are already poles apart.
04/26/201209:59 Many supporters of rightwing liberal views do not consider Prokhorov their leader. There are a few reasons for this. First, he has not a clearly defined political commodity; second, his attempts to reform the Right Cause party failed; and third, his dubious morals and scandal-tarred image.
04/25/201210:37 Participants in the rallies on Bolotnaya Square and other places in Moscow and other cities signed the united opposition program. Not a single item of this program has been implemented. Of course, the authorities announced that the elections of governors will be introduced as well as political plurality, but so far we have seen nothing else but imitation of a genuine political process.
04/24/201210:31 The drive for power might be the predominant motive in the struggle for leadership of the protests at the moment, though the major point today is whether the leaders can gather enough societal support and to what extent they can go beyond current “rally politics”.
04/13/201210:29 The contemporary protest movement is far less tied to the political personas of particular leaders than past movements. There is no common platform or organization for this opposition movement, a fact which reduces the danger that it will be captured by demagogues but which also makes it difficult for it to enter into dialogue with the authorities.
