Wider Eurasia is a macro-region, unique in scale and diversity and at the same time an area of cooperation among many sovereign states, most of which retain autonomy in determining foreign policy priorities. It is across Wider Eurasia that new forms of institutional interaction are developing: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Eurasian Economic Union, ASEAN and a number of others. Their activities are based on the main organising principles of this sphere – the absence of a rigid hierarchy, equality among the participants, and their desire to achieve national development priorities amid conditions where such global phenomena as globalisation and general openness have been called into question.
The objectives of the “Wider Eurasia” programme are a broad expert dialogue on the most important issues of the development of the macro-region and its interaction with the rest of the world, the creation of discussion platforms that contribute to the development of a common understanding of problems and opportunities, and promptly addressing the most pressing challenges to regional security and development.
As part of the programme, existing academic partnerships and research areas that have become key issues in the work of the Valdai Club over the past ten years are strengthened and new ones are created; expert interaction with leading researchers and think tanks is expanded.