The 11th Asian Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and Asia after the Pandemic”, took place on December 9 and was open to the media. The conference was opened by Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club. The first session was titled: “The Shock of 2020: What We Lost and What We Gained in International Relations.”
The global coronavirus pandemic did not change the nature of international relations, but it relegated to history many of the things that seemed self-evident only a year ago, and, at the same time, it opened up new opportunities. International institutions are experiencing the heaviest test in decades. Great power competition and the change of the global balance of powers undermine the basis of systemic international cooperation, give rise to national egotisms and struggle for influence within institutions. But at the same time, the flexibility of the international system is growing while options for taking foreign policy decisions at the level of individual states are increasing. The session’s purpose was for Russian and Asian participants to discuss the main losses and gains of 2020 for global and regional economy and politics, the new factors of development of societies, the perception and potential of initiatives of global and regional players.
Speakers:
- Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club
- Akshay Mathur, Director of ORF Mumbai
- Nguyen Hung Son, Director General of the Institute for the South China Sea at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam
- Viktor Sumsky, Director of the ASEAN Centre, MGIMO University
- Zhou Bo, Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS), Tsinghua University; Former Director of the Center for Security Cooperation in the Office for International Military Cooperation, Ministry of National Defense
Moderator:
- Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club