Valdai Club

Many people will remember the year 2019, but one of its most important features has been the impressive growth of what can be called social activity or even aggression. And perhaps this is also a sign of growing global chaos.

The freedom of expression, as well as the right to reliable information, which are often (and mistakenly) combined into one concept - “freedom of speech” - are going through conflicting times. It seems to have never been so easy to communicate as it is now, but, all the same, people roam blindly in the all-consuming fog of information and risk wandering into a place from which they can’t find a way out. Perhaps today, new communications are the main threat to peace.

World War II began eighty years ago. But did it end six years after it began? The war’s hostilities ended in 1945 and the conflict later culminated with the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo. But, strangely enough, its presence is still felt in modern politics, culture and our social lives. This phenomenon requires our attention, although Theodore Adorno doubted whether culture existed in principle after Auschwitz.

It seems that following the collapse of the bipolar world, we are not moving at all to a new multi-polar planet of equal opportunities and open cooperation between countries. Rather, we've found ourselves in a foggy ocean without any poles and, therefore, no means of orienting ourselves.

On May 21, the Valdai Club was planning to hold in Vienna its sixth European conference, in partnership with a number of respected Austrian organizations. It was supposed to feature leading Russian and European, including Austrian, experts. However, the Austrian co-organizers cancelled their participation on short notice. In his welcome speech at the Russian Embassy in Austria, Andrey Bystritskiy, the Valdai Club Chairman, said that this must have been caused by the recent domestic developments. “The important thing is not the problems that arise, but our attitude to them,” he said. The conference will take place in another venue (Grand Hotel Wien) and dialogue between Russia and Austria will continue against all the odds.

Today’s world may have fallen into one of the most dangerous situations in its entire history. The world as we know it seems to face death. And the reason for this is the discrepancy between the intellectual capabilities of mankind and its power in the context of globality. From now on, the entire humanity has one destiny. But who is able to manage it properly? What type of rationality do we need to make decisions of global scale?

As this text is being written and read, the developments in Venezuela can take the most unexpected turn. Who will win? Maduro or Guaidó? The parliament or the president? Of course, in the end the problem will be solved by the will, initiative, courage, ingenuity, strength of either party. But what about the rule of law?

We live in a complicated, tangled and staggeringly interdependent world that is undergoing tectonic shifts. This is what the president of Russia spoke about at his annual news conference, where he devoted considerable attention to the international situation.

The large Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi is finished. To most observers, it will be remembered by the bright statements of the President of Russia and concerns about the fate of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who previously took part in the Valdai Club conferences.

In the second half of October, the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi will host the next Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. This year’s topic is “Russia: Agenda for the 21st Century.” It is clear that it will be about Russia, but about Russia in the international context, Russia in the big world, Russia in the global game. A new world is emerging right before our eyes, and therefore we must understand what it will be like and how Russia will exist in it.