Valdai Club

World Majority

‘Decolonisation: 65 Years On’. An Expert Discussion

Valdai Club Conference Hall, Tsvetnoy Boulevard 16/1, Moscow, Russia

© Reuters

List of speakers

On December 15, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion “Decolonisation: 65 Years On.”

Materials

Free the Mind, Free the Land

Transforming nominal political independence of the post-colonial world into intellectual and economic sovereignty requires further deepening and widening of the emerging relationships between and within the BRICS+ members and partners, writes Rasigan Maharajh specially for the Valdai Club’s expert discussion titled “Decolonisation: 65 Years On.”

Rasigan Maharajh

Decolonisation as a Current Issue

On December 15, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted a discussion titled “Decolonisation: 65 Years On,” dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Moderator Oleg Barabanov emphasised that this document remains highly significant, as it continues to set the agenda in the still-relevant struggle against colonialism and neocolonialism. This agenda is currently being actively discussed by countries of the Global South, including in the context of the BRICS summits and Russia's cooperation with African countries.

The 1960 UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples: History of Adoption

Some unexpected things emerge from reading a collection of diplomatic speeches from 1960. It seems not that much time has passed in historical terms, but imagine a representative of Ecuador trying to say now that Spain had the most humane treatment of the indigenous population of the Americas. Back then, this was said with the most cynical frankness, and it raised no problems, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

Valdai Club to Discuss Countering Neo-Colonialism

On December 15 at 13:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion “Decolonisation: 65 Years On.”

Photo

Photo Gallery: ‘Decolonisation: 65 Years On’. An Expert Discussion

Video

‘Decolonisation: 65 Years On’. An Expert Discussion

15.12.2025