Valdai Club

Piotr Dutkiewicz

Antonio De Robertis

Ralf Dickel

Susi Dennison

Dominique De Villepin

Francisco de Borja Lasheras

Pornchai Danvivathana

Cheng Dawei

Alexey Dolinskiy

Boris Dolgov

Russian Federation

Senior Research Fellow, Center for Arab and Islamic Studies, RAS Institute of Oriental Studies

Materials

The Gulf Cooperation Council Summit: Good for Discussion, but Changes Nothing

The current GCC summit, at which Saudi Arabia and its regional partners have made decisions in order to coordinate their economic, defence and foreign policy, is quite important. Nevertheless, we can hardly expect any drastic changes in GCC activities and policies to follow from decisions adopted at the Summit.

Syrian Kurds Facing Strategic Choice

The Syrian government has proposed that Kurdish armed groups join its army amid the ongoing conflict with Turkey. Concerning the security situation in northern Syria, the fact that the Kurdish troops are joining the Syrian government army, taking control of the region and suppressing the remaining radical Islamist groups can help restore the rule of law, ensure a peaceful life and improve the security situation.

Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia and the UAE: Economic Cooperation and Political Contacts

The recent visits of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates provided a significant impetus to the development of cooperation between Russia and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Peaceful interaction in the economic, political and cultural spheres is, of course, in the interests of all parties. It will play a positive role in finding ways to resolve conflicts in the region.

Gulf Cooperation Council Summit: Why ‘Arab NATO’ Is Still a Project

If the Arab NATO is established, the odds in the Yemen conflict may shift in Saudi Arabia’s favor. Similarly, this may affect the situation in Syria, although Russia is playing an important role there, and the Arab NATO, even with US support, is unlikely to risk a military-political confrontation with the Russian Federation.

Political Tools of the Syrian Peace Process

A delegation of the oppositional Syrian High Negotiations Committee (HNC) arrived in Moscow on October 26 for talks with top Russian diplomats on a number of issues. At the same time, the summit of leaders of Russia, Turkey, Germany and France was held in Istanbul on the situation in Syria. During the summit, all its participants confirmed that the political settlement of the Syrian crisis has no alternative.

Report: Islam in Politics: Ideology or Pragmatism?

This report is based on discussions held at the Valdai Club's Middle East Dialogue conference, which took place in Marrakesh, Morocco, on May 14-15, 2013. The event was attended by high-profile politicians from the Middle East and North Africa, including leaders of Islamist movements, as well as prominent experts, analysts and journalists from Russia and around the world.