Valdai Club

The evolving contours of modern geopolitics is still in a state of flux, and there is wisdom in accepting the notion that the end result is perhaps indeterminable. The age of disruption is here, countries that thrive on disorder may do well in the short term, while nations who invest in stability may well define the future of globalisation and, indeed, the new world order, write Samir Saran and Aarshi Tirkey.

For the West, any conversation about reconstruction begins with a political settlement, while the topic of humanitarian aid is strictly politicised. But someone should already raise the question of what the sanctions policy has achieved in recent years, other than the deterioration of the humanitarian situation of the Syrian population, writes Valdai Club expert Ruslan Mamedov.

The preceding period has clearly confirmed one thing: the assumption that it’s possible to arrange the post-Soviet space in a way which contradicts Russian interests is illusory. This fact may be good or bad, but there is nothing you can do about it, writes Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

In recent years, Vladimir Putin has mentioned several times the ideas of Lev Gumilev – one of the fathers of modern Eurasianism – in the context of the roles of civilization and cultural factors in Russian domestic politics.

Vladimir Putin’s article attaches such great importance to the common historical experience of Russia and Ukraine because it is important for him personally. But those who were just starting their lives at the time of the collapse of the USSR are hardly likely to see things the same way. To sum up, as long as the aggregate power capabilities of Russia are maintained, our neighbours can expect unpleasant news, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

The anti-globalisation ideology was based on non-systemic left-wing or left-anarchist ideas. But this boom of leftist protest, paradoxically, as a model, had a stimulating effect on the growth of non-systemic right-wing protests in many countries. These were also based on the ordinary man’s distrust in the elites and the authorities, but the emphasis was on preserving national identity, on its erosion in the context of globalisation and on global migrant flows, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

The new guidelines for the US sanctions policy include the development of targeted sanctions, a more serious analysis of their economic costs for American business, as well as business from allied and partner countries and, finally, closer coordination with allies, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev.

The notion that a “Great Game” exists in Afghanistan and Central Asia presupposes, by default, that these remain “pawns” or “client states”. This is a difficult argument to make 30 years after they received sovereignty amid the collapse of the USSR, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev.

The unprecedented size of the challenge we are facing today to address this humanitarian imperative calls for a greater level of engagement, financial and political, of a more diversified set of actors, including humanitarian organizations, development agencies and the private sector, writes Philip Spoerri, former Head of Delegation of ICRC in Syria.

The problems in Afghanistan have obviously dominated the approach to security in Central Asia over the past 40 years since the Saur Revolution. This is why the entire context and results of the June 2021 summits of the G7, NATO, US-EU and US-Russia came down to a number of strategically important issues on the global agenda in which Afghanistan occupied a key role, writes Ulugbek Khasanov, Head of Regional Security & Conflicts Study Lab., University of World Economics & Diplomacy, Uzbekistan.