How are the Middle Eastern societies changing? What is happening to the traditional social structures amid urbanisation, conflicts, socio-political reforms? Have the young and women become new socio-political actors? Are the structures of civil society becoming an important factor of political life? On March 31, at 14:30 Moscow time (GMT+3), the fifth session of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Middle East Conference, titled “Middle Eastern Communities: A New Subjectivity?”, was held. Raghida Dergham, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Beirut Institute; Columnist for The National and Annahar Al Arabi; Randa Slim, Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues, Middle East Institute, Washington, DC; Konstantin Truevtsev, Leading Researcher in the Centre of Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, participated. The session was moderated by Vitaly Naumkin, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; President of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.