Russia in Global Affairs

Vladimir Putin took part in the 19th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone”. The plenary session was held by Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

On October 24-27, 2022, Moscow is hosting the 19th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club titled “A Post-Hegemonic World: Justice and Security for Everyone”. The moderator of the Plenary Session is our Editor–in-Chief Fyodor Lukyanov.

World politics has begun to rapidly return to a state of anarchy built on force. “The end of history” culminated in the restoration of its usual course – the destruction of the international order resulting from large- scale conflicts between centres of power.

China should understand that Washington’s end goal is to systemically curb Beijing’s very ability to exercise its sovereignty as it sees fit.

In modern international relations, inequality and hierarchy are preserved, and are determined by differences in power, economic and human potentials. The voluntary nature of an organisation does not exclude coercion and domination. The softness of politics in comparison with the empires of the past hardly indicates the absence of coercion and domination as such, writes Ivan Timofeev.

Presidential elections will be held in South Korea in early March. Given that there will be about a dozen candidates, as one might expect, everyone understands that the real struggle for the presidency will be led by representatives of the country’s two main political camps: Yoon Seok-youl and Lee Jae-myung. Nobody can predict the outcome of the elections, so that everything will be decided in the last days or even hours.

The movement of troops is combined with the threat of economic sanctions, and the appeal to international law and institutions are combined with clear examples of disregard for weak states. Indeed, it was worthwhile for international politics to accumulate such experience and tools over several centuries in order for us to wait for a crisis where all these measures would become available to an interested observer.

Putin a politician and leader, not an academician. His conservatism should be judged accordingly. It is a work in progress and is part but by no means the whole of the mental apparatus he brings to his role.

On January 19, 2022, the Valdai Club hosted an expert discussion dedicated to the consultations between representatives of Russia and the West on security guarantees in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna. The discussion was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine.