Valdai Club

Back in October 2017, which may seem today a bygone era, a group of Valdai Club experts teamed up with a group of researchers to release a report titled A Look into the Future: Scenarios for Asia and Russia in Asia in the Next 20 Years.

The geopolitical landscape has changed beyond recognition in the time since the first Russia-Africa Summit was held in the autumn of 2019, laying the groundwork for an ambitious programme to expand Russia’s cooperation with Africa.

Capital organises globally yet workers do not. As the US-led NATO powers escalate the Ukraine conflict into a new world war, this imbalance is becoming intolerable.

Starting in February 2022, the developments in Ukraine have rapidly escalated into a military conflict on a scale that Europe hasn’t seen since World War II. The conflict involves large concentrations of ground forces and a broad range of modern weapons. It is radically different from the conflicts of the past few decades, when technologically advanced powers more or less successfully conducted military operations against a technologically much weaker adversary.

The third decade of the 21st century started out with extremely dramatic events. The COVID-19 pandemic, the armed conflict in Ukraine, the exacerbating Russia-West confrontation, the rapid strengthening of the global role of the global majority countries (countries outside the Western alliance), the global food crisis and aggravated environmental threats taken together have spurred the long process of collapse of the international political system, leaving out of sight what may come to replace it.

The worsening international military and political situation compels experts, time and time again, to focus on missile defenses. Heightened missile threats stimulate the development of defensive capabilities. Traditionally, missile defense is seen as a destabilization factor as well. The purpose of this paper is to identify fundamental trends and key problem areas and present proposals for potential solutions to minimize the negative implications of missile defense development for international security.

Central Asia’s place in the constellation of Russia’s foreign policy interests is determined by its geopolitics, features of the international political architecture and Russia’s wide-ranging and multifaceted ties with the main states in the region. Central Asia is unlike other large parts of the former Soviet Union, such as its European part or South Caucasus. There is not a single Central Asian country for which confl ict with Russia could become a central element of their national foreign policy.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been in a deep economic and political crisis for almost a decade. Both the domestic opposition and a tangible part of the international community dispute the legitimacy of its government. The country is being deprived of a large share of foreign investment and has been subjected to many sanctions by the countries of the collective West. Venezuela’s population is short of basic necessities and medications, which has led to social unrest and significant emigration.


The host countries’ societies do not always appreciate a seemingly obvious fact: migrants are not just a “workforce” or some “median population.” They move from one country to another in search of jobs and better life opportunities. They have their own problems and vulnerabilities.

World politics has begun to rapidly return to a state of anarchy built on force. “The end of history” culminated in the restoration of its usual course – the destruction of the international order resulting from large- scale conflicts between centres of power.