The 7th Valdai Club Meeting, an expert forum for international specialists on Russia, titled “Russia: History and Future Development,” is to run from August 31 through September 7, 2010.
PROGRAMME
Monday, August 30th / Tuesday, August 31st
Foreign participants arrive in St.Petersburg and lodge on board M/S "Kronshtadt"
Russian participants arrive in St.Petersburg and lodge on board M/S "Kronshtadt"
09:30-10:00 Opening remarks by Sergey Karaganov , chairman of the “Valdai” Club
10:00-12:15 am Session I. Roots of the historical trend of concentration of power in Russia: External threats, domestic developments, climate, territory, multiethnic and multicultural character of the country — and the need of a strong central power
Foreign co-chair: Angela Stent
Russian presenters: Lev Belousov, Alexander Arkhangelsky
Foreign presenters: Richard Pipes, Dominic Lieven
12:15-01:00 pm “Places we are cruising by”, lecture by Professor Anatoly Razumov
02:30-05:00 pm Session II. Russian experience of modernization and current attempt of a leap forward
Foreign co-chair: Sheng Shiliang
Russian presenters: Sergey Aleksashenko, Vladislav Inozemtsev
Foreign presenters: Robert Legvold, Piotr Dutkiewicz
08:30-09:30 pm “Russia in and outside Europe”. Lecture by Hélène Carrère d'Encausse .
Presentation of the book by Hélène Carrère d'Encausse “Russian Misfortune. Essay on Political Assassinations“ (in Russian). Presenter — Sergey Mironenko
08:00 am Arrival to Kizhi island
08:00-11:00 am Walking tour of the island and the Open Air Museum of Wooden Architecture
11:00 am Departure from Kizhi to Valaam island
11:30 am-02:00 pm Session III. Russia and its neighbors: Ideal and feasible modes of interaction (Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, etc.)
Foreign co-chair: Alexander Rahr
Russian presenters: Vyacheslav Nikonov, Alexey Miller
Foreign presenters: Geoffrey Hosking, Adam Michnik
15:30-05:30 pm Session IV. Russia in Europe and Asia. New context of the geopolitical orientation: “Come on to Asia!” or “Back to the Union of Europe?”
Foreign co-chair: Toby Gati
Russian presenters: Vitaly Naumkin, Fyodor Lukyanov
Foreign presenters: Sheng Shiliang , Thomas Gomart
08:30-09:30 pm “Russia: Continuity of the history?” Lecture by Andrey Zubov .
Presentation of the book “Russian history: XX century“ (A.Zubov et al, in Russian). Presenter — Richard Pipes
09:30-12:30 am Session V. Russia and the World: Could Russia change as others want to see it? How Russia sees its future?
Foreign co-chair: Leszek Miller
Russian presenters: Kirill Rogov, Olga Krishtanovskaya
Foreign presenters: Charles Grant, Timothy Colton
02:00-03:30 pm Presentation of the Analytical Report by the Russian Group of the Valdai International Discussion Club ‘ Towards a Union of Europe’. Presented by Sergei Karaganov
04:00 pm Arrival to Valaam island
05:00-08:00 pm Tour of the central quarters of the Spaso-Preobrazhenski (Holy Transfiguration) Valaam monastery. Boat tour from Nikonovsky bay to Monastyrsky bay and back
08:00 pm Departure from Valaam to St.Petersburg
08:30-10:00 pm Free discussion “ Where to for the Valdai Club? ” Chairs: Svetlana Mironyuk and Sergei Karaganov
09:00 am M/S "Kronshtadt" arrives to St.Petersburg
Russian participants:
10:30-12:30 am End of program in St.Petersburg; transfer to Moskovski Rail Terminal, departure to Moscow (“Sapsan” high speed train departing 01:00 pm)
Foreign participants:
09:30-12:30 am Transfer to Smolnyj
11:00-12:30 am Meeting with St.Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko
03:00-04:00 pm Meeting with Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage. Tour of the Hermitage.
11:30-12:30 am Transfer to Moskovski Rail Terminal, departure to Moscow (“Sapsan” high speed train departing 01:00 pm)
Meetings with the top Russian officials
Departure of the foreign participants
