Valdai Club

During a recent visit to Kabul, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis accused Russia of supporting the Taliban and even of supplying it with weapons. Moscow categorically rejects these accusations. Valdai Club expert Alexei Fenenko believes that cooperation between Russia and the United States on Afghanistan could be possible only without the US’ intrusive attempts to use the Afghan conflict for a new big game in Central Asia.

Russia is becoming one of the leading mediators in the process of Afghan crisis settlement.Since the current government of Afghanistan feels not so confident enough in terms of security (it is based on rather shaky package agreement, signed in summer 2014), it is important to establish more strong relations with Russia and the CSTO.

The Russian-Pakistani military cooperation is a relatively new phenomenon.

The type of terrorist attack which shook Nice on Bastille Day is difficult to prevent, and may have a considerable impact on liberal democracy in Europe, experts told valdaiclub.com.

Security is a prospective area of Russia-ASEAN cooperation. Consultations were recently held between defense ministries of Russia and all of ASEAN member-states, including staunch US allies.

The presence of self-proclaimed Islamic State fighters in the Philippines, whether coordinated by the terrorist group leaders or not, will be a powerful factor in the nation’s domestic and foreign policies.

Americans emphasize their readiness to protect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, especially as the Trans-Pacific Partnership is gradually becoming reality.

China is a powerful factor constraining possible partnership between Russia and ASEAN.

The Americans came up with a more realistic project: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. They recognize the existence of two regional integration projects, and their primary goal now is to contain China.

Independence of Scotland would be a step towards transformation of the British Commonwealth, while independence of Catalonia would be real disintegration of Spain, because they are absolutely different nations with different traditions.