On February 9–10, the Valdai Discussion Club, with the support of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will convene its 15th Middle East Conference under the theme “Continuity and Novelty: The Middle East Amid a Collapsed World Order.” The event will be held at the Club’s Moscow headquarters at 16/1 Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
More than 50 policy experts and political figures from 18 countries will attend the conference, representing Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, India, China, Greece, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part as guest of honour. Other senior international participants include Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, former Deputy UN Special Envoy for Syria (2014–2019); Ahmed Majdalani, Palestinian Minister of Social Development and member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization; and Bakhtiar Amin, former Minister of Human Rights of Iraq (2004–2005).
The Valdai Club’s annual Middle East conference ranks among its flagship international gatherings. First held in Amman, Jordan in 2009, it has evolved into a chronicle of the region’s key developments—from the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring to the civil war in Yemen, regime change in Syria, Israeli military operations in Gaza, and the armed confrontation between Israel and Iran.
Against the backdrop of a collapsed global order, the Middle East now serves as a clear reflection of contemporary international trends. Both regionally and worldwide, instability is growing: boundaries that once constrained state behaviour are eroding, power balances are shifting, and foreign policy decisions are increasingly shaped by uncertainty.
This year, conference organisers also note the growing primacy of internal over external factors in Middle Eastern affairs. Experts are invited to explore socio‑political models in an age of global instability and eroding public trust, as well as the critical role of information sovereignty in societal resilience—and how to achieve it in the digital era.
The conference aims to capture both continuity and new dynamics in regional processes, evaluate their consequences, and outline possible future scenarios together with a broad circle of specialists and representatives from across the Middle East.
A two‑day programme has been designed to support this objective, featuring an opening plenary, six thematic sessions, and a special meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Thematic sessions will address the following questions:
- Forget About Balance or Build a New One? Opportunities and Limits of Power in the Middle East in the Second Quarter of the 21st Century.
- Conflicts Without Resolution? Is There Any Chance to End the Hostilities?
- Political Islam – What's Next?
- What Kind of Wars Should We Prepare for, and How?
- Political Systems Amid Global Instability and Crisis of Public Trust
- Digital Era: What Does Information Sovereignty Mean and How to Achieve It?
The Valdai Club Report, produced jointly with the Institute of Oriental Studies (IOS) of the Russian Academy of Sciences for each Middle East gathering, will serve as the conference’s intellectual foundation. This year’s report, titled “Stuck in Mid-Sentence: The Middle East at the Start of the 21st Century’s Second Quarter,” offers a monitoring of key regional trends in international relations. It has been prepared under the guidance of Vitaly Naumkin, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and President of the Institute of Oriental Studies, and Vasily Kuznetsov, Deputy Director for Research and Head of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the same institute.
International participants will include: Idriss Lallali, Acting Director of the African Center for the Study of Terrorism (Algeria); Salman Shaikh, Founder and Executive Director of The Shaikh Group (United Kingdom); Fahad Al-Mahri, CEO Deputy and Head of the Trends Research and Advisory Dubai Sector (UAE); Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General and Co-Founder of the Palestinian National Initiative (Palestine); Naeem Salik, Executive Director of the Institute for Strategic Vision (Pakistan); Taha Özhan, Research Director of the Ankara Institute (Turkey), and others.
Invited Russian participants include Maria Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva, Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy Planning Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Professor of the Department of Applied Analysis of International Problems at MGIMO University; Alexander Maryasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Iran (2001–2005); Irina Zvyagelskaya, Head of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at IMEMO RAS; Maxim Suchkov, Director of the IMI MGIMO University; Anton Khlopkov, Director of the Centre for Energy and Security; Andrey Sushentsov, Dean of the Faculty of International Relations at MGIMO University; Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, and others.
Working languages: Russian, Arabic, and English.
Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763.
Accreditation will be open until February 6, 2026, 12:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3).
Links to the live broadcast of the open discussions will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.
