Modern Diplomacy
Valdai Club to Discuss the Policy of the New Eurasian States
Valdai Club Conference Hall, Tsvetnoy Boulevard 16/1, Moscow, Russia
List of speakers

On January 26, at 11:00 a.m. Moscow Time, the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion, titled “The Foreign Policy of the New Eurasian States: Did the Experiment Work?” together with our presentation of the report “Coming-of-Age Stories: Foreign Policy as Formative Experience for New Eurasian States”.

The fate of the former Soviet republics during the thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union is similar to the trajectory of graduates who left school together at a time that coincided with a historical change.

Any comparison of the former Soviet republics is inevitably crude: these countries are too different; it is difficult to find a common parameter that would allow them to be compared. In foreign policy, they set different goals. What some consider a blessing, others consider a curse. For Estonia and Georgia, sharing their sovereignty with the US is a dream come true. For Russia and Belarus – it’s seen as a potential disaster.

There is no single rational framework for evaluating the foreign policies of the post-Soviet countries. What seems rational for Latvia will not be so for Uzbekistan. The neighbours understand Russia's foreign policy priorities, due to differences in the world picture, which are deeply rooted in the political experience accumulated over thirty years. 

The participants will discuss the effectiveness of the foreign policies of the new states of Eurasia. Have they achieved their goals - and if so, at what cost? Which countries' foreign policies can be called successful? What is the merit of the national elites in this success, and where were they lucky to catch the "fair wind" of the international environment?

Speakers:

  • Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Caucasus Institute (Armenia)
  • Kubatbek Rakhimov, former adviser to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, Executive Director of the Public Fund “Applicata - Centre for Strategic Decisions”, Kyrgyzstan
  • Ivan Safranchuk, Director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies, Institute for International Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia
  • Nikolay Silaev, Director of the Laboratory for the Analysis of International Processes of the Institute for International Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia

Moderator:

  • Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, acting Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, MGIMO, MFA of Russia.

Working languages: Russian, English.

Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.