Russia in Global Affairs

In this insightful interview conducted by Modern Diplomacy executive Kester Kenn Klomegah with Fyodor Lukyanov, Chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Research Director at the Valdai Discussion Club, and Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, focused largely on Russia and Africa relations, and a few aspects of the emerging new world order.

Turbulent events on the world stage are leading to inevitable changes, but what kind of changes? Can we understand what the world situation will look like when the current crisis ends? We have asked leading intellectuals from countries outside the Western community to share their thoughts.

Last year’s events undid what was before in all respects: political, economic, humanitarian, and military. Everything will now be built differently, because there is really no way back.

Nobody has any doubts that what is happening now in Ukraine is not simply a regional conflict but a test for the current international hierarchy. Predictions of the outcome would be woefully premature in any case, but one can try to imagine which principles may form the foundation of a future system of global co-existence and which will be relegated to the past.

The relations of the so-called Rest with the collective West changed in time, moving from competition to confrontation to an open conflict that effectively breaks the current international arrangements. In short, this is a Grand Split.

If we believe that the world is on its trajectory to become multi-polar and that this transition period may as well last for years or even decades, then at least we can start discussing about what the new rules might be to ensure our peaceful coexistence.

It should be emphasized that Russia literally turned to arms after decades of other, peaceful attempts to correct (not destroy) the Western-led system and find a proper place there. It did not produce any meaningful response from the West, because the West was fully convinced that the existing scheme was fine for all. And those who thought differently were just wrong.