Russia in Global Affairs

The American global hegemony of the 1991-2021 edition was so impressive and probably unprecedented in scale that a mild and gradual departure from it was not possible.

In reality, Russia has supported (although softer diplomatic language is used) the force in Afghanistan which is the most independent one in the local context. This is a rather consistent step towards building a polycentric and diverse world.

US President Joe Biden’s speech on his country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan is a turning point in American foreign policy. As the last troops pull out, leaving a shattered nation behind, Washington seems to have few regrets.

On July 20, the Valdai Club held an online discussion titled “Afghanistan After the US Withdrawal: A Security Vacuum Forever?” The discussion was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

For Russia, stability and smooth cooperation with Central Asia is the third chance (after the failure of western and CIC integrational projects) to show the attractiveness of cooperation with Russia within her traditional area of influence. The stakes are high as the Eurasian project will either reinvent Russia as a moderator in the emerging continental system, or solidify her status as an important but lonely regional power.

Islamism. Political Islam. Islamic fundamentalism. The mass media and academic studies are literally brimming with these terms. However, what we see today as a natural component of international relations, in the 1970s-1980s was an unheard-of and inconceivable phenomenon in world politics.

September 11, 2001, is popularly believed to be the watershed event. Indeed, the “mega terror” acts in New York and Washington made people take a new look at the world, at least from two vantage points.

A concert of powers in which European nations performed throughout the 19th century provided for peace and tranquility on the continent for almost a hundred years. Today, in an era of overall domination by one country and collapse of the former international architecture, it is time to recall the principles of that Concert. But now the Concert will have to be played according to global scores of the new millennium.

"Our most important foreign priority would be keeping peace in the world – very important for Russia, and also because the global situation is worse than at any time in decades."