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The 12th Middle East Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club
Valdai Club Conference Hall, Tsvetnoy Boulevard 16/1, Moscow, Russia
Programme

On February 28 — March 1, the Valdai Discussion Club, with the support of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will host its 12th Middle East Conference, titled “The New Middle East and the Security Crisis in Europe: Effects of Mutual Influence”. The Middle East conference will be held at the Club’s Moscow office (16/1 Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Moscow, Russia).

The Middle East Conference will be attended by about 50 leading experts dealing with the region, including active politicians and intellectuals from 18 countries, including Algeria, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and UAE. From the Russian side, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Bogdanov and First Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia Pavel Sorokin will be guests of honour at the Middle East conference. High-ranking foreign guests arriving in Moscow will include Bouthaina Shaaban, Advisor to the President of Syria; Çağrı Erhan, Rector, Altinbas University; and Amal Abu Zeid, Lebanese presidential adviser.

This year, the Middle East conference is taking place amid exceptional circumstances: the unfolding of Europe’s largest security crisis in decades. The Ukrainian crisis is the culmination of the process of the West-centric international order crumbling. The current conflict affects the entire world, including the Middle East, a dynamically developing region that is gradually freeing itself from the influence of the West.

The Middle East has been one of the strategic constants that remains on the agenda of Russian politics, regardless of what happens in other areas. The purpose of the conference is to discuss the impact of the European and global crises on the state of affairs in the Middle East, as well as Russia’s relations with the countries of the region.

During the conference, the experts will discuss the following issues:

• Prospects for a regional security system in the Middle East;

• The Ukrainian crisis and Middle Eastern countries;

• The transformation of the transport and logistics system of Eurasia under Western restrictions;

• Impact of the international crisis on the hydrocarbon market;

• Formation of a polycentric system in the Middle East.

A new Valdai Club report has been prepared specially for the Middle East conference, titled “The Middle East and the Future of the Polycentric World”, which examines the position of the region in the global system. The authors refer to the internal and external factors that determine the situation and offer three possible scenarios for the development of the regional system in the Middle East.

The conference will be attended by: Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy (Egypt), UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria (2014-2019); Mohammed Abdul Rahman Baharoon, Director General of the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre; Kayhan Barzegar (Iran), Professor, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations of the Research Unit, Islamic University; John Gong (China) professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics; Haila Al-Mekaimi (Kuwait), Professor of Political Science, Kuwait University; Mohammed Ihsan (Iraq), President, Erbil International University; Muhammad Athar Javed, founder, CEO of Pakistan House; Naeem Jeenah (South Africa), Executive Director, Afro-Middle East Centre; Vitaly Naumkin, Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Oleg Ozerov, Ambassador-at-Large, Head of the Secretariat of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum; Andrei Baklanov, Head of the Middle East and North Africa Research Section, Higher School of Economics; Irina Zvyagelskaya, Head of the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, IMEMO RAS; Vasily Kuznetsov, Head of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director at the Valdai Discussion Club; Andrey Sushentsov, Programme Director at the Valdai Discussion Club, and others.

The Club’s Middle East conferences have been held since 2009. In different years, the forum was hosted by Jordan, Malta and Morocco; in Russia it was also held in Sochi. Since 2016, the Middle East Valdai Club conferences have become annual and are held in Moscow.

Working languages: English, Arabic, Russian.

Information for the media:

Dear journalists, in order to be accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763.

Accreditation will conclude on February 27 at 5:00 pm, Moscow Time.