On June 4, the Valdai Club held its session
at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum under the title “Shared Future, Universal Good: How to Manage Competition for Resources and Spaces”.
Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, opened the session with remarks outlining the numerous challenges facing states and societies in a rapidly changing international system fraught with disorder and uncertainty. The discussion was moderated by Fyodor Lukyanov, Valdai Club Research Director. He spoke of long-term changes in the international environment, noting how the approach to addressing global challenges evolved from the widely declared belief in shared solutions to self-reliance without any pretence of common efforts. With the end of history nowhere in sight, he called for a “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” approach to international affairs in a world as dangerous as it is intertwined.
Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, described three main types of cyberthreats: cybercrime, cyber espionage operations, and cyber sabotage. Bringing up a number of success stories for international cooperation in cyberspace, he nevertheless asserted that security against cyberthreats can only be assured through self-sufficient national technological capabilities. Kaspersky pointed out that the record for institutionalising international cooperation in cyberspace is poor, adding that cyberwarfare is a realm where negotiations remain implausible.
Among states confronted by cyberthreats, Russia is the country that finds itself in the most troubling environment. When it comes to maintaining cybersecurity in the face of acute danger, STEM education assumes critical importance. Meeting cyber challenges head on requires a supply of trained specialists in technical fields—something that can only be provided by an education system that is optimised for the pressing demands of the modern world.
Sujeet Kumar, Member of Parliament (MP), Rajya Sabha (Upper House), recalled a Sanskrit saying—“the world is one family”. Calling for a more just distribution of influence in international institutions, he rallied against hot-headed unipolar recklessness and the insecurity it creates for all states in the international system. The speaker highlighted that major bodies of global governance still lack representation for voices from the Global South and developing economies.
Kumar believes that an abundance of young people is among India’s greatest advantages. Yet, this promising generation must be supported by increasing access to educational opportunities, which includes the pursuit of education abroad. Here, traditional dynamics of international education flows may undergo change as the United States tightens migration policies, allowing others—including Russia—to step in and reap benefits.
Syed Munir Khasru, Chairman of the Institute for Policy, Advocacy, and Governance (IPAG), stressed the struggles of those who are most vulnerable in the contemporary international environment. With disruptions in critical chokepoints capable of wreaking economic havoc all around the world, it is individuals without the means for economic security who end up suffering most. Those marginalized by the systems in place may flock to populist leaders, demonstrating their dissatisfaction at the ballot box. The speaker drew attention to the basic indicators of social, economic, and political success—water and food availability, stability, digital security.
On mounting tensions in the international system, he stated that “we won’t agree on everything”—yet that is natural in a changing global order. The real question is how to effectively manage those differences and arrive at an acceptable middle ground.
Osama El Gohary, Chairman, Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC); Assistant to the Prime Minister of Egypt, noted that small and medium economies are going beyond basic domestic development as they strive to secure a place in global supply chains for themselves and their companies. Emerging as economic hubs linking the world in a web of connectivity, those states may come to play a vital role in international affairs through their status as economic and political intermediaries.
El Gohary invoked the “resource curse” that may doom countries with abundant reserves of natural resources to dependency and stagnation. To those in possession of resources, it is clear that they face the task of developing alternative sources of economic growth. All in all, small and medium economies must “learn how to fish” in preparation for the day when they may no longer be “given fish”.
Wang Huiyao, Founder and Chairman of the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG), characterised the modern international environment as a “world of complexity, uncertainty, and distrust”. He called for building trust between major players in the international system and embracing common solutions for common problems—that includes moving towards restoring the authority of the UN, where China can boast of being the second-largest donor to the organisation. Wang believes that mankind needs something that would rally it together, as the fashionable drive to make individual states “great again” should not overshadow the interests of humanity at large.
The speaker suggested that the burden of maintaining stability may shift to regional institutions and bodies if global governance systems continue to experience decline. As regional initiatives replace established dysfunctional arrangements, the most important political, economic, environmental challenges facing the world may be addressed more efficiently on a smaller scale.
The end goal—to “make our world great again”—can only be attained through coequal dialogue between powers great and small, with exclusionary approaches only leading the international system further down the path of dangerous uncertainty.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
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