Without the participation of the global majority, including the countries of the Global South, it is impossible to establish normal relations in the world. Western countries have taken a course on dividing the world into “bad” and “good”, and this is a very dangerous trend. Indonesia and Russia, like many other countries, want to live in an open world where there are common rules for everyone, said Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, speaking at the Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy (CIFP) on November 30, 2024. This year’s event is titled “Can Middle Powers Calm the Storm and Fix the World?”
In his video address, Andrey Bystritsky noted: “All countries should have equal rights. In this world, there should be common rules for everyone. Today, the Western countries, using their access to mechanisms for regulating economic and financial relations, openly abuse this.
They arbitrarily disregard international law, and impose sanctions against all those they don’t like.
It seems to me that the countries of the Global South are striving to create a more convenient and comfortable world in which no one can manipulate others.”
Andrey Bystritskiy highly praised the efforts of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), which has been organizing the conference since 2015, and also congratulated his colleagues on their tenth anniversary: “Your community’s 10 years of work show that Indonesian political thought is developing and considers global, world-scale approaches to the state of affairs in the modern world.”
The conference was attended by Dino Patti Djalal, founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI); Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia; Marty Natalegawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia (2009–2014); Andy Wijayanto, Senior Advisor of Laboratory Indonesia 2045 (LAB 45); Delia Domingo Albert, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines (2003–2004); Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Deputy Minister and Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Thailand (2006–2007), as well as prominent figures and experts from Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India, the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. Many of them have repeatedly participated in Valdai Club events.
The Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy (CIFP) is an annual forum organized by the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) since 2015. CIFP is a meeting place for representatives of political and expert circles from Indonesia and the world. As the organizers note, the conference is a “combination of an international seminar and a celebration”, as it combines serious discussions with a festive, energetic atmosphere, in which thousands of people take part.
