Valdai Club

The 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Sochi, Russia

© Valdai Discussion Club

List of speakers

The 18^th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “Global Shake-Up in the 21st Century: The Individual, Values, and the State” was held on October 18-21, 2021. After a two-year hiatus, its participants returned to the traditional venue of the annual meetings, the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The meeting summed up the results of the annual work of the Valdai Club, and also marked its return to full-fledged work — not only meaningful exchanges (which have never stopped), but also in terms of face-to-face communications.

This year’s Annual Meeting was held predominantly offline, in the traditional venue, the Polyana 1389 hotel. About 140 participants, including 65 experts from abroad, gathered for the forthcoming sessions.

Materials

Morality and Law

Real World Change on Climate Will Rely on Free Markets, Dialogue, and Solidarity

While environmental social and governance criteria remain context dependent and cannot be universally applied, it is key to balance these factors with real world market realities through a technology agnostic approach, writes Valdai Club expert Christof Van Agt.

Christof Van Agt

Global Governance

Origins and Challenges of Putin’s Conservative Strategy

A conservative foreign policy presupposes reliance on manipulation rather than forceful pressure. Since this approach is inevitably associated with limited resources, first we must ask the question of their distribution in specific situations. However, under the pressure of those powers that behave in a revolutionary way, the conductor of a conservative strategy will increasingly face situations that will require him to use force to prevent revolutionary change, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Timofei Bordachev, who took part in the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Timofei Bordachev

Lessons from the Pandemic and Lessons from History. Day 4 of the Valdai Club Annual Meeting

Traditionally, the culmination of the Annual meeting of the Valdai Club is a plenary session in which the President of Russia participates. This year’s event was no exception. Before that, however, the final, seventh session of the forum was held, titled “Russia as a Solution. What Did the Shocks Teach Russia and How Is This Useful to the World?” It was followed by an open discussion.

Vladimir Putin Meets with Members of the Valdai Discussion Club. Transcript of the Plenary Session of the 18th Annual Meeting

Vladimir Putin took part in the final plenary session of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. This year’s theme is Global Shake-up in the 21st Century: The Individual, Values and the State. The plenary session’s moderator was Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Global Governance

Greater Eurasia: 30 Years on

One of the big problems is that the Soviet experience and the “post-Soviet” identity are rapidly becoming obsolete. We need a new ideology for the greater union, in the name of which we may build international cooperation and implement reforms, writes Rakhim Oshakbayev, speaker of the special session “30 years of new Eurasia - results and prospects” at the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Director of the TALAP Center for Applied Research.

Rakhim Oshakbayev

Global Governance

Restraining the Excesses of Liberalism

As the relative power of the West steadily declines, the role of liberalism in domestic and international politics recedes. After the Cold War, the “end of history” thesis was largely internalised and expressed with the assumption that the entire world would unify under liberal principles, which would be enforced under the benign leadership of the US. As the international distribution of power shifts, Western states have increasingly expressed their concerns about the decline of the so-called “liberal international order”, writes Glenn Diesen, Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, and participant at the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Climate, Urbanism, Intelligence, Identity, and the Russia Hub. Day 3 of the Valdai Club Annual Meeting

On Wednesday, October 20, the Valdai Club experts continued their work. The third day of the Annual Meeting was very eventful: four sessions were held, including a special session, as well as a meeting with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Morality and Law

Endless Competition, but not the Endless War

If the 20-year war in Afghanistan was a “forever war” for the United States, then its competition with China must be “forever competition”, because it will surely last longer than twenty years. In the years ahead, China-US competition will most certainly intensify in that the US will take it as the last chance to bring down a rising power, writes Zhou Bo, speaker at the first session of the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, Senior Fellow, Centre for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University, Expert of the China Forum.

A New Concept of Freedom in the Post-Covid Era

Geopolitical tensions and the enhanced role of governments will bring about a return to more extensive industrial policies in many developed countries. It is therefore possible that misallocated resources and subsidies to certain industries will result in further tensions in global trade and commerce. As a result, new mechanisms are needed for building global cooperation and containing conflicts, otherwise the law of the jungle will prevail, writes Xu Sitao, Chief Economist, Partner of Deloitte China, and speaker at the third session of the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, titled “A Closed Society and Its Friends. Who Needs Freedom and Why?”

The Return of the Future and the Triumph of Political Realism. Day 2 of the Valdai Club Annual Meeting

On the second day of the 18th Annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, two regular sessions and two special sessions were held, which included the presentation of a new report and the first book of the Valdai Club’s Scientific Series. In addition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with the participants of the event.

Load more articles

Photo

Photo Gallery: Plenary Session. The 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Open Discussion. The 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Russia as a Solution. What Did the Shocks Teach Russia and How Is This Useful to the World? Seventh Session of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Thirty Years of a New Eurasia – Results and Prospects. Special Session of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Photo Gallery: Russia and the World: The National Idea in a Global Context. Sixth Session of the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

Video

Anatol Lieven on possibility of EU military forces emerging

11.11.2021

Anatol Lieven on Euro-Atlantic security

02.11.2021

Open Discussion at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club

22.10.2021

The 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. Day 4

22.10.2021

What Is the Initial Task for the US and China to Resolve Contradictions?

21.10.2021

Infographics

Intelligence as the main subject of competition in the 21st century

Eurasia in the 21st Century

Environmental Initiatives of Russia

Inflation Throughout the World

Development of COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccinations