Valdai Club

2017

The Transformation of Euro-Atlantic Institutions: Scenarios, Risks, and Opportunities

Ivan Timofeev

Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, Associate Professor at MGIMO MFA of Russia

New political realities are exerting growing pressure on Euro-Atlantic institutions. In Europe, a system of asymmetric multi-polarity has de facto taken shape, increasing the risk of political tensions. NATO has once again cast itself as a tool for containing Russia, even while the Alliance itself experiences some uncertainty. The EU is discussing the creation of its own security structures, while the role of the OSCE – the only inclusive pan-European institution – has been undermined. The roles that Russia and Turkey play in the region are changing. The Euro-Atlantic policy of the U.S. remains unclear. Questions arise regarding possible institutional changes in Europe and the impact they would have on Russia, as well as the nature of the new system of European security.

Reports

Report: Unbalanced Europe and the New Order in the OSCE Space

The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 was a major milestone in the development of Europe and the first major step toward the end of the Cold War. A quarter of a century later, Europe is divided again, growing more unstable, and becoming more vulnerable as it slips into anarchy and a new Cold War.

Report: The Euro-Atlantic Security Formula: Stable Deterrence and Its Alternatives

An asymmetric and unbalanced system of security has developed in the Euro-Atlantic region. It is based on a major gap in capabilities between Russia and NATO. Although that asymmetry was not of critical concern prior to the Ukrainian crisis, it has become a source of serious risks under current conditions capabilities between Russia and NATO.

Report: International Intervention in Conflicts. UN, OSCE, EU, NATO, CSTO Peacekeeping Policies

The modern world suffers dozens of conflicts every year and international interference is required for their settlement. What are the norms of such interventions? How to ensure an impartial reconciliation of the conflicting parties considering different interests of major players? Which effective foreign policy measures should Russia take?

Alexander Nikitin

Valdai Papers

The Belt and Road Initiative and Its Impact on Europe

The Belt and Road Initiative, originally aimed at domestic economic development, has turned into an umbrella bringing together China’s ambitious projects to shape a new order in Eurasia, which directly influences Europe.

Enrico Fardella, Giorgio Prodi

THE EASTERN PERSPECTIVE

Whose Liberal International Order? The Remaking of Eurasia and the Shifting Balance of International Ideas

Whilst the illusion that the liberal international order to be the steadfast and supreme one has been shattering, the rebirth of Eurasia as a rising hub of multilateral cooperation based on mutual respect breaks up the monopoly of liberalism and vividly demonstrates that an alternative is already in place.

Kazushige Kobayashi

Great Power Interventions and the Future of Responsibility to Protect

Over the past decades, there have been multiple instances of great power military interventions justified by the “responsibility to protect”. However, in some parts of the world it was considered to be a policy of “double standards” in pursuit of geopolitical goals.

Hovhannes Nikoghosyan

A Tranquilizer With a Scent of Gunpowder. The Balance between Russian and NATO Forces in Eastern Europe after 2014

The serious decline in Russia’s relations with the West has breathed a new life into NATO, which returned to its traditional role, the containment of Russia.

Canaries in a Coal Mine. Why the United States is Experiencing an Epidemic of Indiscriminate Mass Murder

Events in the United States associated with the murder of policemen by black men are considered by the author as manifestations of terrorism. The main feature of them is that such violence is deliberately indiscriminate, chaotic.