Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board, Foundation for the Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, Fyodor Lukyanov, Academic Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, Anatoly Torkunov, Rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), and Yaroslav Kuzminov, Rector of the Higher School of Economics (HSE), attended the press conference and shared details about this year's Annual Meeting, its participants, main theme, expectations and on President Vladimir Putin's part in it.
Andrey Bystritsky noted that 129 experts and politicians, including 88 foreign ones, will assemble at the 12th Annual Meeting. "Our goal is to discuss the problem of war and peace that exists, the problem of even some militarization of the language we speak today," Bystritsky clarified, speaking about the groundwork of the Annual Meeting. He added that war and peace was a fundamental and eternal issue in the history of humankind.
Concerning the aspects foregrounded for the upcoming debates, he mentioned economic problems in the global interdependent world, diplomacy in the 21st century and its potential in preventing the war. "The modern situation in the world does instill alarm and forces serious talks about the way the threats would develop, how war and peace would be governed, what state is more natural, acceptable for the man – peace or war," explains Bystritsky.
Initially, the organizers of the Annual Meeting had not expected the problem of war and peace to gain such topicality when hammering out its agenda, admitted Fyodor Lukyanov. The developments in the Middle East demonstrate that the intertwinement of countries in the globalized world has not diminished the phenomenon of war.
The 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Congress of Vienna that followed it and established a new system of international relations were perceived as an excellent basis for intellectual debates, according to the academic director. Moreover, the events in the 19th century have a lot in common with the world today: the level of uncertainties is rising; the old system is in recession, even shattering, while the architecture of the new world order still rests on the drawing board. Lukyanov reminded that congresses had become a new mechanism aimed at ridding the world of war. Consequently, new mechanisms are crucial today in order to restrain conflicts and strengthen peace.
As for Leo Tolstoy's grand novel War and Peace, which stands as a pillar of the session in Sochi, the academic director emphasized that the book contained deep philosophical insight into the triggers of war. However, Tolstoy's writing style is rather complicated, so one of the goals of the intellectual elites is to express the author's outlook in a simpler language. In Lukyanov's opinion, one of the lessons of the novel suggests that history is an endless line consisting of many triggers, people being just one of them.
Anatoly Torkunov focused on the diplomatic side of the Annual Meeting. In his words, the 19th century was the golden age of Russian diplomacy. Interests were well-balanced back then. The Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations which existed for about 50 years proved to be efficient to a certain degree. However, modern international diplomacy has lost the capability of preventing conflicts, the MGIMO rector believes. Therefore, modern diplomats should make use of the experience and lessons of the past, Torkunov added.
Yaroslav Kuzminov laid emphasis on the economic and scientific elements of the upcoming Annual Meeting, which make it stand out in comparison with the previous sessions. The economic and the scientific components are follow-ups of political discussions. According to the rector of the Higher School of Economics, the economic factor gains ground in the modern world. Economic success, he explains, is to a great extent based on expulsion of competitors from the common market. The anti-Russian sanctions and attempts to isolate the resource-rich country is a good example illustrating his assumption.
Kuzminov opined that the market of capital and technology were the most globalized, the labour market will soon play a similar role. The IT and information market are becoming a political tool. There is, however, another side of the coin, the rector noted: "There are things that preserve the dialogue even in a situation of severe confrontation of interests. All the countries are interested in retention and development of the markets. People remain interested in each other above the discrepancies dividing the countries and economic interests." Education, science and culture can act as sectors bolstering cooperation between countries. Kuzminov added that the Club was planning to present a report dedicated to the markets that bring the countries together.
The participants of the press conference made their forecasts about the possible issues President Putin may touch upon at the Annual Meeting in Sochi. Bystritsky and Torkunov believe that Putin's speech would most likely match the agenda of the session, the problems of war and peace and foreign policy. In this regard, Torkunov stressed that the Annual Meeting was a forum of professionals where people had an opportunity to express their stance and ask direct questions, it will be more than a mere press conference with the president. Lukyanov expressed certainty that Putin will talk about the Russian mission in Syria and explain its goals. He added that it was one of the cases when Russia could back its words by actions.
