Valdai Club

The focus was on Russian elites’ views on five issues related to international relations: defining the sphere of Russia’s national interest, the role of military power in world politics, attitude to the US, and attitude to the military intervention in Libya and the possible invasion of Syria.

Over the course of the next decade, the Russian elite will undergo a gradual change of generations. Today the key government and economic positions are held by people born in the 1950s, the 1960s and to some extent the 1970s. But in time they will be ousted by those born in the 1980s. By 2020, this generation will hold the “blocking stake” in the government. Studying the attitudes and values of this age group is of particular interest.

As Russia embarked on the path of sustained economic growth in the 2000s, the Russian government adopted an increasingly energetic, if not aggressive, foreign policy course aimed at reestablishing the country’s status as a world power, which it de facto lost following the collapse of the USSR. Will this course be sustained in the future?

The majority of Russians today have a negative attitude to the United States. While they may not see America as an enemy, they think Russia must be very cautious in its dealing with the global hegemon. Moreover, some experts believe that in recent years anti-Americanism has emerged as an important element in the Kremlin’s official propaganda.

The mass protests in 2011 and 2012 have caused heated debates about the trajectory of Russian politics. Some experts believe that this political awakening portends an early end to Putin’s rule, while others predict a crackdown on the opposition and perhaps even mass repressions. How will the ruling elite respond to this challenge?