Valdai Club

The Big Data collected about us turns out to be quite double-edged. In the hands of a doctor, it can help prolong our life, and in the hands of a swindler or manipulator, it can make it hell, writes Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club. The article is published as part of the Valdai Club’s Think Tank project, continuing the collaboration between Valdai and the Argentine Council of International Relations (CARI).

It is difficult to imagine a more controversial and, at the same time, promising region of the world than the Middle East. But this region was once the cradle of human civilisation, and it continues to play a role in its development, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

The general feeling of disharmony and lack of mutual understanding throughout the world is increasing. This is not only (and not so much) due to disagreements, for example, between countries, but due to a growing rift in values, in the understanding of where we are all going and why, as well as what kind of civilisation we want in the modern world.

Apparently, Internet regulation is inevitable. The question is, what will this regulation be, who will implement it, and how, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis. Indeed, times they are a-changing, and we change with them. We can only hope that its for the better. However, the first days of the third decade of the 21st century lead one to doubt that the world, at least, has not rushed into the abyss.

We are faced with the threat of a kind of “war of all against all”, a global, world civil war, a multidimensional matrix of conflicts of different origins. Moreover, there is a suspicion that the ability of the world’s elites to settle, and resolve even the most acute conflicts will not be enough to achieve a positive result, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

Today, those who must deliver accurate and unbiased information often claim to be masters of minds. As a result, modern man is practically deprived of the opportunity to consume more or less reliable information. He is an object of manipulation in the interests of one or another political or social force, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.

The successes of Asian countries in the fight against the pandemic have given a lot of enthusiasm to both governments and citizens. And this inspiration, a sense of self-confidence, will definitely bear fruit, principally in the form of growing independence, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy ahead of the Club’s 11th Asian Conference.

It is believed that human beings first appeared when they learned to speak. Much of what is happening now indicates that the skill of articulated speech is being lost. Will this lead to the degradation of people and the disappearance of what we call humanity? The current situation has compromised global communication, threatening us with innumerable troubles.

The coronavirus has accelerated a lot of processes, but above all it has brought about the collapse of the familiar world. It seems that soon there will be a choice between the bad and the very bad. Every time we seem to have reached the bottom, something gives way and we continue to plummet. Amid our fall, we’ve forgotten something – humanity’s potential for ideological conflict, writes Valdai Club Chairman Andrey Bystritskiy.