Russia in Global Affairs

The evidence points to Labour’s Keir Starmer as the winner, but with a smaller majority than sometimes predicted. Unlike the recent elections in the European Union, there is no significant electoral challenge to the established political elites. Opposition will fall to the fringe political parties and groups. The UK may have a change of political leadership under Labour but there will be no significant shift in political direction.

The UK goes to the polls later this year. The Conservative Party, which has been in power for fourteen years, is going to lose badly. Britain’s next government is likely to be headed by the Labour Party and Sir Keir Starmer. At some point, Britain’s next government will have to change Britain’s stance towards Russia – which has the upper hand. The question is how.

On November 10, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion, titled “AUKUS: A New Cold War in the Indo-Pacific?” on the possible implications of the trilateral defence cooperation agreement, concluded in September by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The discussion was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

The 2018/2019 world political season ended in an atmosphere of some fated madness, with tragedies degrading into a farce in line with Hegel’s trite aphorism. But the atmosphere of farce makes everyone fear that the situation may spiral out of control for the most trivial of reasons.

It is not nuclear weapons that help maintain stability; rather, a gradual decay of the “long peace” will raise the need for the transformation of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons already act not so much as a guarantee against war as a guarantee that your enemy will not use them against you?like chemical weapons in World War II.

This article is an abridged and revised version of the paper written for the Valdai International Discussion Club. The original copy is available at: http://valdaiclub.com/a/valdai-papers/valdai-paper-82-the-belt-and-road-initiative/…

This article is an abridged and revised version of the paper written for the Valdai International Discussion Club. The original copy is available at: http://valdaiclub.com/a/valdai-papers/the-global-resurgence-of-economic-nationalism/…

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.

The problem between Russia and the West is really a problem among Westerners themselves. If there is a new cold war, it is only because established elites have not come to terms with reality: the balance of military, political, economic, and moral power has shifted too far away from the West to be reversed.