Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, friends, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the XI meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
It was mentioned already that the club has new co-organisers this year. They include Russian non-governmental organisations, expert groups and leading universities. The idea was also raised of broadening the discussions to include not just issues related to Russia itself but also global politics and the economy.
I hope that these changes in organisation and content will bolster the club’s influence as a leading discussion and expert forum. At the same time, I hope the ‘Valdai spirit’ will remain – this free and open atmosphere and chance to express all manner of very different and frank opinions.
Let me say in this respect that I will also not let you down and will speak directly and frankly. Some of what I say might seem a bit too harsh, but if we do not speak directly and honestly about what we really think, then there is little point in even meeting in this way. It would be better in that case just to keep to diplomatic get-togethers, where no one says anything of real sense and, recalling the words of one famous diplomat, you realise that diplomats have tongues so as not to speak the truth.
We get together for other reasons. We get together so as to talk frankly with each other. We need to be direct and blunt today not so as to trade barbs, but so as to attempt to get to the bottom of what is actually happening in the world, try to understand why the world is becoming less safe and more unpredictable, and why the risks are increasing everywhere around us.
Today’s discussion took place under the theme: New Rules or a Game without Rules. I think that this formula accurately describes the historic turning point we have reached today and the choice we all face. There is nothing new of course in the idea that the world is changing very fast. I know this is something you have spoken about at the discussions today. It is certainly hard not to notice the dramatic transformations in global politics and the economy, public life, and in industry, information and social technologies.
Let me ask you right now to forgive me if I end up repeating what some of the discussion’s participants have already said. It’s practically impossible to avoid. You have already held detailed discussions, but I will set out my point of view. It will coincide with other participants’ views on some points and differ on others.
As we analyse today’s situation, let us not forget history’s lessons. First of all, changes in the world order – and what we are seeing today are events on this scale – have usually been accompanied by if not global war and conflict, then by chains of intensive local-level conflicts. Second, global politics is above all about economic leadership, issues of war and peace, and the humanitarian dimension, including human rights.
The world is full of contradictions today. We need to be frank in asking each other if we have a reliable safety net in place. Sadly, there is no guarantee and no certainty that the current system of global and regional security is able to protect us from upheavals. This system has become seriously weakened, fragmented and deformed. The international and regional political, economic, and cultural cooperation organisations are also going through difficult times.
Yes, many of the mechanisms we have for ensuring the world order were created quite a long time ago now, including and above all in the period immediately following World War II. Let me stress that the solidity of the system created back then rested not only on the balance of power and the rights of the victor countries, but on the fact that this system’s ‘founding fathers’ had respect for each other, did not try to put the squeeze on others, but attempted to reach agreements.
The main thing is that this system needs to develop, and despite its various shortcomings, needs to at least be capable of keeping the world’s current problems within certain limits and regulating the intensity of the natural competition between countries.
It is my conviction that we could not take this mechanism of checks and balances that we built over the last decades, sometimes with such effort and difficulty, and simply tear it apart without building anything in its place. Otherwise we would be left with no instruments other than brute force.
What we needed to do was to carry out a rational reconstruction and adapt it the new realities in the system of international relations.
But the United States, having declared itself the winner of the Cold War, saw no need for this. Instead of establishing a new balance of power, essential for maintaining order and stability, they took steps that threw the system into sharp and deep imbalance.
The Cold War ended, but it did not end with the signing of a peace treaty with clear and transparent agreements on respecting existing rules or creating new rules and standards. This created the impression that the so-called ‘victors’ in the Cold War had decided to pressure events and reshape the world to suit their own needs and interests. If the existing system of international relations, international law and the checks and balances in place got in the way of these aims, this system was declared worthless, outdated and in need of immediate demolition.
Pardon the analogy, but this is the way nouveaux riches behave when they suddenly end up with a great fortune, in this case, in the shape of world leadership and domination. Instead of managing their wealth wisely, for their own benefit too of course, I think they have committed many follies.
We have entered a period of differing interpretations and deliberate silences in world politics. International law has been forced to retreat over and over by the onslaught of legal nihilism. Objectivity and justice have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. Arbitrary interpretations and biased assessments have replaced legal norms. At the same time, total control of the global mass media has made it possible when desired to portray white as black and black as white.
In a situation where you had domination by one country and its allies, or its satellites rather, the search for global solutions often turned into an attempt to impose their own universal recipes. This group’s ambitions grew so big that they started presenting the policies they put together in their corridors of power as the view of the entire international community. But this is not the case.
The very notion of ‘national sovereignty’ became a relative value for most countries. In essence, what was being proposed was the formula: the greater the loyalty towards the world’s sole power centre, the greater this or that ruling regime’s legitimacy.
We will have a free discussion afterwards and I will be happy to answer your questions and would also like to use my right to ask you questions. Let someone try to disprove the arguments that I just set out during the upcoming discussion.
The measures taken against those who refuse to submit are well-known and have been tried and tested many times. They include use of force, economic and propaganda pressure, meddling in domestic affairs, and appeals to a kind of ‘supra-legal’ legitimacy when they need to justify illegal intervention in this or that conflict or toppling inconvenient regimes. Of late, we have increasing evidence too that outright blackmail has been used with regard to a number of leaders. It is not for nothing that ‘big brother’ is spending billions of dollars on keeping the whole world, including its own closest allies, under surveillance.
Let’s ask ourselves, how comfortable are we with this, how safe are we, how happy living in this world, and how fair and rational has it become? Maybe, we have no real reasons to worry, argue and ask awkward questions? Maybe the United States’ exceptional position and the way they are carrying out their leadership really is a blessing for us all, and their meddling in events all around the world is bringing peace, prosperity, progress, growth and democracy, and we should maybe just relax and enjoy it all?
Let me say that this is not the case, absolutely not the case.
A unilateral diktat and imposing one’s own models produces the opposite result. Instead of settling conflicts it leads to their escalation, instead of sovereign and stable states we see the growing spread of chaos, and instead of democracy there is support for a very dubious public ranging from open neo-fascists to Islamic radicals.
Why do they support such people? They do this because they decide to use them as instruments along the way in achieving their goals but then burn their fingers and recoil. I never cease to be amazed by the way that our partners just keep stepping on the same rake, as we say here in Russia, that is to say, make the same mistake over and over.
They once sponsored Islamic extremist movements to fight the Soviet Union. Those groups got their battle experience in Afghanistan and later gave birth to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The West if not supported, at least closed its eyes, and, I would say, gave information, political and financial support to international terrorists’ invasion of Russia (we have not forgotten this) and the Central Asian region’s countries. Only after horrific terrorist attacks were committed on US soil itself did the United States wake up to the common threat of terrorism. Let me remind you that we were the first country to support the American people back then, the first to react as friends and partners to the terrible tragedy of September 11.
During my conversations with American and European leaders, I always spoke of the need to fight terrorism together, as a challenge on a global scale. We cannot resign ourselves to and accept this threat, cannot cut it into separate pieces using double standards. Our partners expressed agreement, but a little time passed and we ended up back where we started. First there was the military operation in Iraq, then in Libya, which got pushed to the brink of falling apart. Why was Libya pushed into this situation? Today it is a country in danger of breaking apart and has become a training ground for terrorists.
Only the current Egyptian leadership’s determination and wisdom saved this key Arab country from chaos and having extremists run rampant. In Syria, as in the past, the United States and its allies started directly financing and arming rebels and allowing them to fill their ranks with mercenaries from various countries. Let me ask where do these rebels get their money, arms and military specialists? Where does all this come from? How did the notorious ISIL manage to become such a powerful group, essentially a real armed force?
As for financing sources, today, the money is coming not just from drugs, production of which has increased not just by a few percentage points but many-fold, since the international coalition forces have been present in Afghanistan. You are aware of this. The terrorists are getting money from selling oil too. Oil is produced in territory controlled by the terrorists, who sell it at dumping prices, produce it and transport it. But someone buys this oil, resells it, and makes a profit from it, not thinking about the fact that they are thus financing terrorists who could come sooner or later to their own soil and sow destruction in their own countries.
Where do they get new recruits? In Iraq, after Saddam Hussein was toppled, the state’s institutions, including the army, were left in ruins. We said back then, be very, very careful. You are driving people out into the street, and what will they do there? Don’t forget (rightfully or not) that they were in the leadership of a large regional power, and what are you now turning them into?
What was the result? Tens of thousands of soldiers, officers and former Baath Party activists were turned out into the streets and today have joined the rebels’ ranks. Perhaps this is what explains why the Islamic State group has turned out so effective? In military terms, it is acting very effectively and has some very professional people. Russia warned repeatedly about the dangers of unilateral military actions, intervening in sovereign states’ affairs, and flirting with extremists and radicals. We insisted on having the groups fighting the central Syrian government, above all the Islamic State, included on the lists of terrorist organisations. But did we see any results? We appealed in vain.
We sometimes get the impression that our colleagues and friends are constantly fighting the consequences of their own policies, throw all their effort into addressing the risks they themselves have created, and pay an ever-greater price.
Colleagues, this period of unipolar domination has convincingly demonstrated that having only one power centre does not make global processes more manageable. On the contrary, this kind of unstable construction has shown its inability to fight the real threats such as regional conflicts, terrorism, drug trafficking, religious fanaticism, chauvinism and neo-Nazism. At the same time, it has opened the road wide for inflated national pride, manipulating public opinion and letting the strong bully and suppress the weak.
Essentially, the unipolar world is simply a means of justifying dictatorship over people and countries. The unipolar world turned out too uncomfortable, heavy and unmanageable a burden even for the self-proclaimed leader. Comments along this line were made here just before and I fully agree with this. This is why we see attempts at this new historic stage to recreate a semblance of a quasi-bipolar world as a convenient model for perpetuating American leadership. It does not matter who takes the place of the centre of evil in American propaganda, the USSR’s old place as the main adversary. It could be Iran, as a country seeking to acquire nuclear technology, China, as the world’s biggest economy, or Russia, as a nuclear superpower.
Today, we are seeing new efforts to fragment the world, draw new dividing lines, put together coalitions not built for something but directed against someone, anyone, create the image of an enemy as was the case during the Cold War years, and obtain the right to this leadership, or diktat if you wish. The situation was presented this way during the Cold War. We all understand this and know this. The United States always told its allies: “We have a common enemy, a terrible foe, the centre of evil, and we are defending you, our allies, from this foe, and so we have the right to order you around, force you to sacrifice your political and economic interests and pay your share of the costs for this collective defence, but we will be the ones in charge of it all of course.” In short, we see today attempts in a new and changing world to reproduce the familiar models of global management, and all this so as to guarantee their [the US’] exceptional position and reap political and economic dividends.
But these attempts are increasingly divorced from reality and are in contradiction with the world’s diversity. Steps of this kind inevitably create confrontation and countermeasures and have the opposite effect to the hoped-for goals. We see what happens when politics rashly starts meddling in the economy and the logic of rational decisions gives way to the logic of confrontation that only hurt one’s own economic positions and interests, including national business interests.
Joint economic projects and mutual investment objectively bring countries closer together and help to smooth out current problems in relations between states. But today, the global business community faces unprecedented pressure from Western governments. What business, economic expediency and pragmatism can we speak of when we hear slogans such as “the homeland is in danger”, “the free world is under threat”, and “democracy is in jeopardy”? And so everyone needs to mobilise. That is what a real mobilisation policy looks like.
Sanctions are already undermining the foundations of world trade, the WTO rules and the principle of inviolability of private property. They are dealing a blow to liberal model of globalisation based on markets, freedom and competition, which, let me note, is a model that has primarily benefited precisely the Western countries. And now they risk losing trust as the leaders of globalisation. We have to ask ourselves, why was this necessary? After all, the United States’ prosperity rests in large part on the trust of investors and foreign holders of dollars and US securities. This trust is clearly being undermined and signs of disappointment in the fruits of globalisation are visible now in many countries.
The well-known Cyprus precedent and the politically motivated sanctions have only strengthened the trend towards seeking to bolster economic and financial sovereignty and countries’ or their regional groups’ desire to find ways of protecting themselves from the risks of outside pressure. We already see that more and more countries are looking for ways to become less dependent on the dollar and are setting up alternative financial and payments systems and reserve currencies. I think that our American friends are quite simply cutting the branch they are sitting on. You cannot mix politics and the economy, but this is what is happening now. I have always thought and still think today that politically motivated sanctions were a mistake that will harm everyone, but I am sure that we will come back to this subject later.
We know how these decisions were taken and who was applying the pressure. But let me stress that Russia is not going to get all worked up, get offended or come begging at anyone’s door. Russia is a self-sufficient country. We will work within the foreign economic environment that has taken shape, develop domestic production and technology and act more decisively to carry out transformation. Pressure from outside, as has been the case on past occasions, will only consolidate our society, keep us alert and make us concentrate on our main development goals.
Of course the sanctions are a hindrance. They are trying to hurt us through these sanctions, block our development and push us into political, economic and cultural isolation, force us into backwardness in other words. But let me say yet again that the world is a very different place today. We have no intention of shutting ourselves off from anyone and choosing some kind of closed development road, trying to live in autarky. We are always open to dialogue, including on normalising our economic and political relations. We are counting here on the pragmatic approach and position of business communities in the leading countries.
Some are saying today that Russia is supposedly turning its back on Europe – such words were probably spoken already here too during the discussions – and is looking for new business partners, above all in Asia. Let me say that this is absolutely not the case. Our active policy in the Asian-Pacific region began not just yesterday and not in response to sanctions, but is a policy that we have been following for a good many years now. Like many other countries, including Western countries, we saw that Asia is playing an ever greater role in the world, in the economy and in politics, and there is simply no way we can afford to overlook these developments.
Let me say again that everyone is doing this, and we will do so to, all the more so as a large part of our country is geographically in Asia. Why should we not make use of our competitive advantages in this area? It would be extremely shortsighted not to do so.
Developing economic ties with these countries and carrying out joint integration projects also creates big incentives for our domestic development. Today’s demographic, economic and cultural trends all suggest that dependence on a sole superpower will objectively decrease. This is something that European and American experts have been talking and writing about too.
Perhaps developments in global politics will mirror the developments we are seeing in the global economy, namely, intensive competition for specific niches and frequent change of leaders in specific areas. This is entirely possible.
There is no doubt that humanitarian factors such as education, science, healthcare and culture are playing a greater role in global competition. This also has a big impact on international relations, including because this ‘soft power’ resource will depend to a great extent on real achievements in developing human capital rather than on sophisticated propaganda tricks.
At the same time, the formation of a so-called polycentric world (I would also like to draw attention to this, colleagues) in and of itself does not improve stability; in fact, it is more likely to be the opposite. The goal of reaching global equilibrium is turning into a fairly difficult puzzle, an equation with many unknowns.
So, what is in store for us if we choose not to live by the rules – even if they may be strict and inconvenient – but rather live without any rules at all? And that scenario is entirely possible; we cannot rule it out, given the tensions in the global situation. Many predictions can already be made, taking into account current trends, and unfortunately, they are not optimistic. If we do not create a clear system of mutual commitments and agreements, if we do not build the mechanisms for managing and resolving crisis situations, the symptoms of global anarchy will inevitably grow.
Today, we already see a sharp increase in the likelihood of a whole set of violent conflicts with either direct or indirect participation by the world’s major powers. And the risk factors include not just traditional multinational conflicts, but also the internal instability in separate states, especially when we talk about nations located at the intersections of major states’ geopolitical interests, or on the border of cultural, historical, and economic civilizational continents.
Ukraine, which I’m sure was discussed at length and which we will discuss some more, is one of the example of such sorts of conflicts that affect international power balance, and I think it will certainly not be the last. From here emanates the next real threat of destroying the current system of arms control agreements. And this dangerous process was launched by the United States of America when it unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, and then set about and continues today to actively pursue the creation of its global missile defence system.
Colleagues, friends,
I want to point out that we did not start this. Once again, we are sliding into the times when, instead of the balance of interests and mutual guarantees, it is fear and the balance of mutual destruction that prevent nations from engaging in direct conflict. In absence of legal and political instruments, arms are once again becoming the focal point of the global agenda; they are used wherever and however, without any UN Security Council sanctions. And if the Security Council refuses to produce such decisions, then it is immediately declared to be an outdated and ineffective instrument.
Many states do not see any other ways of ensuring their sovereignty but to obtain their own bombs. This is extremely dangerous. We insist on continuing talks; we are not only in favour of talks, but insist on continuing talks to reduce nuclear arsenals. The less nuclear weapons we have in the world, the better. And we are ready for the most serious, concrete discussions on nuclear disarmament – but only serious discussions without any double standards.
What do I mean? Today, many types of high-precision weaponry are already close to mass-destruction weapons in terms of their capabilities, and in the event of full renunciation of nuclear weapons or radical reduction of nuclear potential, nations that are leaders in creating and producing high-precision systems will have a clear military advantage. Strategic parity will be disrupted, and this is likely to bring destabilization. The use of a so-called first global pre-emptive strike may become tempting. In short, the risks do not decrease, but intensify.
The next obvious threat is the further escalation of ethnic, religious, and social conflicts. Such conflicts are dangerous not only as such, but also because they create zones of anarchy, lawlessness, and chaos around them, places that are comfortable for terrorists and criminals, where piracy, human trafficking, and drug trafficking flourish.
Incidentally, at the time, our colleagues tried to somehow manage these processes, use regional conflicts and design ‘colour revolutions’ to suit their interests, but the genie escaped the bottle. It looks like the controlled chaos theory fathers themselves do not know what to do with it; there is disarray in their ranks.
We closely follow the discussions by both the ruling elite and the expert community. It is enough to look at the headlines of the Western press over the last year. The same people are called fighters for democracy, and then Islamists; first they write about revolutions and then call them riots and upheavals. The result is obvious: the further expansion of global chaos.
Colleagues, given the global situation, it is time to start agreeing on fundamental things. This is incredibly important and necessary; this is much better than going back to our own corners. The more we all face common problems, the more we find ourselves in the same boat, so to speak. And the logical way out is in cooperation between nations, societies, in finding collective answers to increasing challenges, and in joint risk management. Granted, some of our partners, for some reason, remember this only when it suits their interests.
Practical experience shows that joint answers to challenges are not always a panacea; and we need to understand this. Moreover, in most cases, they are hard to reach; it is not easy to overcome the differences in national interests, the subjectivity of different approaches, particularly when it comes to nations with different cultural and historical traditions. But nevertheless, we have examples when, having common goals and acting based on the same criteria, together we achieved real success.
Let me remind you about solving the problem of chemical weapons in Syria, and the substantive dialogue on the Iranian nuclear programme, as well as our work on North Korean issues, which also has some positive results. Why can’t we use this experience in the future to solve local and global challenges?
What could be the legal, political, and economic basis for a new world order that would allow for stability and security, while encouraging healthy competition, not allowing the formation of new monopolies that hinder development? It is unlikely that someone could provide absolutely exhaustive, ready-made solutions right now. We will need extensive work with participation by a wide range of governments, global businesses, civil society, and such expert platforms as ours.
However, it is obvious that success and real results are only possible if key participants in international affairs can agree on harmonising basic interests, on reasonable self-restraint, and set the example of positive and responsible leadership. We must clearly identify where unilateral actions end and we need to apply multilateral mechanisms, and as part of improving the effectiveness of international law, we must resolve the dilemma between the actions by international community to ensure security and human rights and the principle of national sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of any state.
Those very collisions increasingly lead to arbitrary external interference in complex internal processes, and time and again, they provoke dangerous conflicts between leading global players. The issue of maintaining sovereignty becomes almost paramount in maintaining and strengthening global stability.
Clearly, discussing the criteria for the use of external force is extremely difficult; it is practically impossible to separate it from the interests of particular nations. However, it is far more dangerous when there are no agreements that are clear to everyone, when no clear conditions are set for necessary and legal interference.
I will add that international relations must be based on international law, which itself should rest on moral principles such as justice, equality and truth. Perhaps most important is respect for one’s partners and their interests. This is an obvious formula, but simply following it could radically change the global situation.
I am certain that if there is a will, we can restore the effectiveness of the international and regional institutions system. We do not even need to build anything anew, from the scratch; this is not a “greenfield,” especially since the institutions created after World War II are quite universal and can be given modern substance, adequate to manage the current situation.
This is true of improving the work of the UN, whose central role is irreplaceable, as well as the OSCE, which, over the course of 40 years, has proven to be a necessary mechanism for ensuring security and cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic region. I must say that even now, in trying to resolve the crisis in southeast Ukraine, the OSCE is playing a very positive role.
In light of the fundamental changes in the international environment, the increase in uncontrollability and various threats, we need a new global consensus of responsible forces. It’s not about some local deals or a division of spheres of influence in the spirit of classic diplomacy, or somebody’s complete global domination. I think that we need a new version of interdependence. We should not be afraid of it. On the contrary, this is a good instrument for harmonising positions.
This is particularly relevant given the strengthening and growth of certain regions on the planet, which process objectively requires institutionalisation of such new poles, creating powerful regional organisations and developing rules for their interaction. Cooperation between these centres would seriously add to the stability of global security, policy and economy. But in order to establish such a dialogue, we need to proceed from the assumption that all regional centres and integration projects forming around them need to have equal rights to development, so that they can complement each other and nobody can force them into conflict or opposition artificially. Such destructive actions would break down ties between states, and the states themselves would be subjected to extreme hardship, or perhaps even total destruction.
I would like to remind you of the last year’s events. We have told our American and European partners that hasty backstage decisions, for example, on Ukraine’s association with the EU, are fraught with serious risks to the economy. We didn’t even say anything about politics; we spoke only about the economy, saying that such steps, made without any prior arrangements, touch on the interests of many other nations, including Russia as Ukraine’s main trade partner, and that a wide discussion of the issues is necessary. Incidentally, in this regard, I will remind you that, for example, the talks on Russia’s accession to the WTO lasted 19 years. This was very difficult work, and a certain consensus was reached.
Why am I bringing this up? Because in implementing Ukraine’s association project, our partners would come to us with their goods and services through the back gate, so to speak, and we did not agree to this, nobody asked us about this. We had discussions on all topics related to Ukraine’s association with the EU, persistent discussions, but I want to stress that this was done in an entirely civilised manner, indicating possible problems, showing the obvious reasoning and arguments. Nobody wanted to listen to us and nobody wanted to talk. They simply told us: this is none of your business, point, end of discussion. Instead of a comprehensive but – I stress – civilised dialogue, it all came down to a government overthrow; they plunged the country into chaos, into economic and social collapse, into a civil war with enormous casualties.
Why? When I ask my colleagues why, they no longer have an answer; nobody says anything. That’s it. Everyone’s at a loss, saying it just turned out that way. Those actions should not have been encouraged – it wouldn’t have worked. After all (I already spoke about this), former Ukrainian President Yanukovych signed everything, agreed with everything. Why do it? What was the point? What is this, a civilised way of solving problems? Apparently, those who constantly throw together new ‘colour revolutions’ consider themselves ‘brilliant artists’ and simply cannot stop.
I am certain that the work of integrated associations, the cooperation of regional structures, should be built on a transparent, clear basis; the Eurasian Economic Union’s formation process is a good example of such transparency. The states that are parties to this project informed their partners of their plans in advance, specifying the parameters of our association, the principles of its work, which fully correspond with the World Trade Organisation rules.
I will add that we would also have welcomed the start of a concrete dialogue between the Eurasian and European Union. Incidentally, they have almost completely refused us this as well, and it is also unclear why – what is so scary about it?
And, of course, with such joint work, we would think that we need to engage in dialogue (I spoke about this many times and heard agreement from many of our western partners, at least in Europe) on the need to create a common space for economic and humanitarian cooperation stretching all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Colleagues, Russia made its choice. Our priorities are further improving our democratic and open economy institutions, accelerated internal development, taking into account all the positive modern trends in the world, and consolidating society based on traditional values and patriotism.
We have an integration-oriented, positive, peaceful agenda; we are working actively with our colleagues in the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS and other partners. This agenda is aimed at developing ties between governments, not dissociating. We are not planning to cobble together any blocs or get involved in an exchange of blows.
The allegations and statements that Russia is trying to establish some sort of empire, encroaching on the sovereignty of its neighbours, are groundless. Russia does not need any kind of special, exclusive place in the world – I want to emphasise this. While respecting the interests of others, we simply want for our own interests to be taken into account and for our position to be respected.
We are well aware that the world has entered an era of changes and global transformations, when we all need a particular degree of caution, the ability to avoid thoughtless steps. In the years after the Cold War, participants in global politics lost these qualities somewhat. Now, we need to remember them. Otherwise, hopes for a peaceful, stable development will be a dangerous illusion, while today’s turmoil will simply serve as a prelude to the collapse of world order.
Yes, of course, I have already said that building a more stable world order is a difficult task. We are talking about long and hard work. We were able to develop rules for interaction after World War II, and we were able to reach an agreement in Helsinki in the 1970s. Our common duty is to resolve this fundamental challenge at this new stage of development.
Thank you very much for your attention.
The infamous Dr Death, Mengele, lived in Paraguay and Brazil, as a CIA agent, and travelled to USA for several missions. The fuhrer died in Argentina, he lived outside a small village in Patagonia, until the 1970s, and the Mossad surely was aware of this.his house was later puchased by Volkswagen, for whom Eichmann worked.
Here we go to the issue of the 3rd party stoking war, as revealed by the 1st teleconference between Mozgovoi and the Ukranians, Btw, Mozgovoi is convinced that among the maidaners fighting among the Ukr ranks, not all are fascists but people convinced that they are either fighting Russia or their proxies. Important to hold in account. Watching tne 2nd teleconference in Colonel Cassad, is most touching to see the empathy that the maidaners there present have for the NAF fighters, but for the Ukrs officers there present, survivors of the cauldron.
The issue of Exopolitics, as perhaps the source for the 3rd party provoking war. Let us recall, november 2009, early at around 5am, north of Norway, not far from where there is a usaeuro base for geoengineering. Suddenly, in the midst of invernal black sky a powerful light, vortical motions, enlightens the sky (see youtube). That morning obabomber receives the nobel prize for preemptive war doctrine. That very night, in Moscow, an enormous pyramidal structure hovers above the Kremlin and stays there until daylight. Rt news shows the structure, an amazing UFO, slowly rotating, no visible engines nor source for its literally floating on the air. This followed a week before a statement of the Russian Army, that the airspace of Moscow was inpenetrable to foreign forces. No official Russian statement followed this apperanc4, but for a statement that the norwegian event was an intercontinental bulova missile which had gone astray after its launching. The funny thing is that this alledged missile came out as a covering with the purpose of not compromising the USA further, which did not explode, only it circled until it smoothly disappeared.
Anyone?
Anonymous at 26 October, 2014 19:57 said…
BTW, to note is that pootin’s long speech was obviously 100% prepared/written by script writers, he hasn’t the time, so then why would his every action/inaction in his Dayplanner not be the same?
My guess is that Putin is either writing/dictating his own speeches or he is working closely with a speechwriter. What goes into his speeches is what he wants to say. The man is obviously too intelligent and has too good a grasp of the facts (as demonstrated at question time) to simply be a speech read. Besides I bet that Putin could turn out a speech like that in a couple hours. So why would’nt he have the time? He can talk at length and extemporaneously about all those topics in his speech.
Where I fault Putin is in too much caution. There is room for him to be much bolder in words and actions. Still, he is doing the right things.
Thierry Meyssan has another excellent piece on Syria/ISIS at voltairenet.org. Some of what he says:
Finally, Russia and China should urgently intervene against Daesh, in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, not out of compassion for the local people, but because this tool will soon be used against them by the United States. Already, if Daesh is controlled by Saudi Prince Abdul Rahman, who finances, and by the caliph Ibrahim, who heads the operations, its principal officers are Georgians, all members of military intelligence, and sometimes Chinese Turkic speakers. In addition, the Georgian defense minister acknowledged, before changing his mind, his hosting of training camps for jihadists. If Moscow and Beijing hesitate, they will face Daesh in the Caucasus, in the Ferghana Valley, and in Xinjiang.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article185727.html
Putin did not deal much with Syria/ISIS in the speech but he should have.
Just following Putin’s speech was that of a former Austrian govt official, then Q & A for Putin, which was more entertaining than his speech. I particularly enjoyed when audience members obviously and pointedly cued him to reply with stories which they had already heard. They showed an obvious affection for Putin and a desire for him to get these incidents on the video tape. I am sure you can find on the net the video of the Valdai Club final day, w the Q & A. –Penelope
Regarding Putin’s comments which seem to say that he believes the 9/11 fiction– There is no possibility that he doesn’t know otherwise. Rather, there is a very deep ‘peacemaking impulse’ in Russia. RT also avoids the confrontational whenever possible. This impulse fights with the necessity to win the information war. Even on Crosstalk the most confrontational (tho true) views are never aired. An exception was partially made for the Ukraine crisis. Otherwise RT is nearly like MSM. That is why journal-NEO.org so shocks me & I want to know who is responsible for it. –Penelope
STEGIEL: Your question “Is EU Stasi-like” (paraphrase).
James Corbett put out a Corbett Report which traces an interesting connection between the early Bilderberg Meetings and the EU. This report on the Bilderberg is unlike any other I have heard in that it is actually seriously researched & I learned a lot of new things from it. Well worth your time. Podcast. http://www.corbettreport.com/episode-291-why-we-must-oppose-bilderberg/
@anderson 26 October, 2014 04:45
Wrong. Obama is the main target and has been since Nov 6 2012.
Israeli minister warns of crisis in ties with US | Veterans Today
…Lapid’s using the word “crisis” was not a slip of the tongue, but calculated to twist the knife on Bibi over having the Military Affairs Minister turned away at both the doors of the Whitehouse and State Department… an unprecedented event.
As I posted last night in the initial article, Washington snubs Israeli minister of military affairs, this was a major incident taking place very close to the November elections…Obama telling Moshe Ya’alon and Bibi that the ploy not only did not work, but got shot down in flames in front of AIPAC and everybody.
Lost in all the post Gaza reporting is that Obama is financially supporting the Palestinian coalition government with Hamas, which Israel had hoped to taint forever, as part of his divide and keep the Palestinians conqured strategy. Obamas move was not only practical, but an olive branch to the new government after the US opened up its weapons storage facilities for Israel to help themselves during the bombing of Gaza…
WAYOUTWEST: ‘Fascist’ has a specific meaning, not just ‘a military dictatorship’. Egypt isn’t a fascist state. US engineered the overthrow of Mubarik, wanted even more control. Muslim Brotherhood won the post-Mubarik elections only because the elections were held so soon that no other force was organized and ready for elections. The non-MB candidates fragmented the vote. Result was that MB won tho not many wanted them. Morsi committed violations against the constitution, was headed for all-out dictatorship. More people came into the streets protesting his rule than had appeared against Mubarik!
The Saudis financially helped Sisi come to power and kick out Morsi cuz MB a threat to them too. MB wanted a Muslim Caliphate. Sisi shows signs of doing some things that help the people.
@Stegiel
You don’t know what the hell you are talking about.
The USA and West are “building up” China?! That’s a bad joke … spoken like a Euro-American disinformationalist who’s trying to obscure his own country’s aggressive behavior against China.
America has multiple military bases surrounding China. These US military bases are hostile in nature. They are deployed to control and threaten China such as exercising American control over the Straits of Malacca where China’s energy imports just so happen to traverse.
Economically, America’s corporations go to China to exploit Chinese labor and to penetrate the Chinese market. It’s only because China has a relatively strong state that it has been able to compel concessions from these American vampires in the process.
In Iraq, why do you think America is trying to destabilize that nation with its not-so-covert backing of terrorist groups like ISIS/ISIL and Al-Queda? In part, America is trying to threaten and disrupt Chinese oil concessions in Iraq.
This is exactly the sinister game America is guilty of in Libya, with its backing of terrorists like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, and in Sudan with the phony “Save Darfur” campaign.
America targeted both Libya and Sudan for balkanization and destruction, in part because they committed the “crime” of allowing Chinese oil concessions there.
China has prospered IN SPITE of America’s best predatory efforts, which have sadly succeeded against other weaker states in the Developing world.
And George Soros likes the CCP? You sound like one of those Tea Party/NWO/miltia types who think that Wall Street capitalist, Barack Obama, is actually a Socialist.
As part of America’s broader political subversion efforts, Soros has tried to extend his tentacles deep inside Chinese civil society, with a swarm of “human rights” NGOS and other pro-American/West agents of influence–ultimately to effect regime change and color revolution in China, as currently seen with the contrived Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong!
Turmoil in Hong Kong, Terrorism in Xinjiang: America’s Covert War on China
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2014/10/turmoil-in-hong-kong-terrorism-in.html
Hong Kong’s Umbrellas are ‘Made in USA’
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2014/10/hong-kongs-umbrellas-are-made-in-usa.html’
The Soros-made “New World Order”: The Division of India, Russia, Indonesia, and China into Smaller, Weak Nations
http://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/the-soros-made-new-world-order-the-division-of-india-russia-indonesia-and-china-into-smaller-weak-nations/
George Soros, Imperial Wizard
http://www.radioislam.org/islam/english/jewishp/finance/sorosempire.htm
Putin’s comment on blackmail is very interesting. Now, who might be a possible target (Hollande?,Merkel?) And if Russia has evidence, why has it not been released?
It is possible that the evidence is not conclusive. Or, they could be waiting for the right time.
Anybody familiar with the German electoral cycle?
RobertS@18:19
I am not making a judgement but an observation about Putin who I see as a great leader. Russia has a mix of State Capitalism and the so called Free Market economics. This is what he has to work with and he certainly supports the Free Market sans too much government control as reflected in his “unfortunate shorthand”
I have yet to see any dictat by Putin to the Russian Parlament that was rejected and this shows a high level of control, probably secretly admired by many Western leaders.
The Ruling Class in Russia decide who will be elected just as the RC in the West decide who the rabble get to vote for in our faux democracy.
Putin always refers to the West as Russia’s partners and always calls for working together including with the likes of George Soros.
Are there people who wanna translate Putin’s speech at the Valdai Club into Dutch in a kind of translation group of four people?
For a person alone the translation would take weeks.
It would be great if this would happen. It’s probably the most important text of this time. And for reasons of Public Relation a topmost thing that should be done for our fellow Dutchmen(~!~)
Feng said:”Are there people who wanna translate Putin’s speech at the Valdai Club into Dutch in a kind of translation group of four people?”
Huh, why would you want to do that for? The Netherlands is surrounded by three local bullies: Germany, Britain and France, none of whom would care to learn our language. In the Netherlands nearly every garbageman speaks English and certainly those who would understand the meaning of the Valdai conference.
Waste of effort.
Kind regards,
Dutch
I liked the speech. I agreed with a lot of what he said. But Putin ain’t perfect either–“Better than most Western leaders” does not come close to equating with perfect. Some things he said definitely jarred on me.
Things Putin was wrong about in that speech:
1. Saying nice things about the Egyptian government. The Egyptian government came to power exactly the same way the current Ukrainian government did: Money-backed protests against a feckless and corrupt but democratically elected government were used as excuse for a coup. The resulting government is a full-on military dictatorship, and is easily as bloodthirsty, and corrupt, and oligarch-backed, as the government in Kiev. They’ve murdered hundreds in the streets, they’ve sentenced hundreds to death in mass kangaroo court sessions on ludicrous trumped up charges, and they’ve outlawed the largest political organization in the country. I don’t like the Muslim Brotherhood much, I don’t like their politics, I don’t like their economics. But they’re not terrorists, they were far less violent than the dictators that replaced them, and they are utterly unlike IS. Backing fascists against them because Muslim is deeply wrong.
Putin probably knows all this. His expression of support for these bastards is a cynical move based on their apparent willingness to deal with Russia; he perhaps hopes to pry them away from the US-Israel axis. This is unlikely to work. In addition, their oppressiveness and lack of economic strategy to improve the people’s lot is only going to fan the flames of IS-type Islamic terrorism in Egypt. I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty soon they, and we, will be wishing it was still the Islamic Brotherhood that was the main Muslim force in Egypt.
2. “the principle of inviolability of private property”. No. Private property has never been inviolable under any political or economic system; very likely it never will be, because it wouldn’t work. Many of the problems we’ve been having of late years have been precisely due to too much endorsement of this fiction, and too much and too strong private property.
3. “you cannot mix politics and the economy”. No. This is absolutely wrong. Politics and the economy are always mixed. For instance the current ethos of free trade is a political ideology and is being used by elites in a political struggle against the rest of the population. Putin wants to say that the existing trade regime is not political but violations of it such as sanctions are, even though at other times he seems to recognize that this isn’t true. He either has not worked out the implications of some of what he is saying, or he does not want to deal with the contradictions involved because he isn’t interested in real economic reform. But really, neoliberal “free trade” on one hand and sanctions on the other are merely tactics used by certain people to gain, retain and deepen dominance; the “principles” involved in the free trade tactic are as much a smokescreen as the “principles” claimed when declaring sanctions. They do both things even though they seem contradictory simply because they think they can get away with having it both ways—“We will pry open your markets and destroy your local production unless and until we decide it’s more useful to us to strangle your markets instead”.
And, any alternative arrangement relying on different principles to do trade in a fairer way which benefits people instead of creating races to the bottom, will also be a result of mixing politics and the economy.
To be fair, he probably meant “politics” in the sort of “international state Great Game” sense, but even so it’s pretty much a pious fiction that the two can ever be disentangled. Again, here I think he may be deliberately talking rot that he figures his audience will accept, where they would not accept or understand the reality. But we should not be part of that delusional audience; he may have his reasons, but the speech itself remains wrong.
“How to become super-rich”
by porfessor Vicenc Navarro
( the example of Bill Gates )
http://blogs.publico.es/vicenc-navarro/2014/10/27/como-se-llega-a-ser-super-rico/
@ Dutch
Not a waste of effort!
In the Netherlands nearly every garbageman speaks English (…)
Theoretically your right, but that is not my experience among friends and relatives.
The MSM are masters in conditioning.
Putin is for most of the Dutch a sneaky mean rat, maniacal craving for power. We should be afraid of him!
Besides that, most Dutch people can speak or read English ~ all in the way of Ruud Gullit, but… all people are lazy, and don’t when it is not absolutely necessary.
Wanting people to read and engage in something that “controversial” as the Valdai Club content, it’s a must to lower any threshold to relax & open the defensive reaction on this intense scaremongering of the elite.
Providing a Dutch translation will help them to overcome the intelligent MSM blockades.
Just my idea.
Kind regards,
Feng
dag feng steenkolen engels van de mavo is niet voldoende inderdaad, je moet nooit uitgaan van jezelf, mijn kleine kinderen kennen meer engels dan mijn vrouw, en ik lees zoveel engels dat ik de nederlandse grammatica vergeten ben. een nederlandse vertaling van de speeches van putin zijn zeer waardevol. maar ze moeten dan wel effectief naar de mensen gebracht worden want het ijzeren gordijn is meters dik in de media
Feng says: “Theoretically your right, but that is not my experience among friends and relatives.
The MSM are masters in conditioning.
Putin is for most of the Dutch a sneaky mean rat, maniacal craving for power.”
Perhaps you should dump your leftist friends. America is the dream only of crypto-commies like the PvdA or Joop.nl. If you read however the readers comments of ‘juichpakkenrechts’ Geenstijl or ‘bitterballetjes-rechts’ Elsevier forums you will see that Putin is not at all demonized. But who cares about Holland, by far the most bunch of America groupies on the planet (for historical reasons–> protestantism, capitalism, judeophilia, Peter Stuyvesant, New Amsterdam=New York). Very few ordinary Dutchman realize that the old America and liberty champ they identify with is long gone and they do not see through the ZOG-USA deep state structures.
Here 200,000 mostly ethnic Dutch going ape shit about America in 2012 in the Amsterdam arena:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJwe5vwC03o
Not even ‘special relationsship’ British would do this, let alone French or Germans. I am very sorry to say that my Holland is to the US what the DDR was to Moscow, before 1989: Slavish overlord suckers. Apart from Nuland & co. it were mostly Dutch speaking US water carrier fools like van Baalen and Verhofstadt and Timmermans who showed up at EuroMaidan, unfortunately.
But this drama is not about the Dutch, it is about the behavior of elements within Germans and French politics, who hopefully are going to make the difference and leave the West. The problem is that Europe has known unparalleled prosperity under Pax Americana and present day Ukies have no different motivation that to be part of that party as well. Can’t blame them. Our problem is the resulting Atlanticist faith:
http://deepresource.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/karel-van-wolferen-on-the-atlanticist-faith/
Hey, cheer up, van Wolferen is a Dutchman and he already abandoned the West and moved over to Moscow. We all need to be patient and use social media to prepare for the change.
Kind regards,
Dutch
With all the talk about Putin’s “saber rattling”, he seems wiser and more intelligent that America’s leaders.
http://globetribune.info/2014/10/29/a-dissenting-view-on-putins-valdai-speech-video/
He is definitely a craft mother fucker.
I wish we had a President like that in the US!
I know that Obama (our US President) is very popular in other countries as he is said to be transparent or a transformational leader. However, unlike Putin, he is actively damaging the core essance of the USA. He appears to be the first President that cares more for Africa, the homeland of his father, than he does for the United States.
The US is undergoing rapid replacement of the old American people with foreigners from 3rd world countries. It has been written by Herodotus in the 5th century BC (I think; citation sought) that the “bad dictators” prefer the company of foreigners to their own people. This is nowhere more true than in the USA where Obama is seen as a friend by the tens of millions of illegal immigrants from poorly developed & violent countries and as the enemy by millions of intelligent, hard working American citizens.
At least Putin seems to care for the legacy of the Russian people. The US leadership, on the other hand seems to revel in doing more damage to our own contry than Russia could ever do. They are destroying a people, and when the people are gone, all the aircraft carriers and advanced fighter jets will become unsupportable.
I
Bull crap on caring more for Africa than the USA. The man is bought and sold by corporations like a lot of US politicians. The Democrats push a slightly more caring image because I do think social liberals have some influence on them.
Stop deluding yourself with semi-racial propaganda coming from the GOP/Tea Party. Don’t worry though, the GOP will win this coming Presidential election and the Democrats will be punished for their transgressions over the last 2 terms. Then the Republicans will sell us out but shift away from social services a little bit to pander to the old money. And the cycle will continue ad-infinitum.
Also, what Putin is cares for is HIS legacy. And if you think he isn’t hurting Russia well… OK I doubt anything could convince you otherwise.
A good speech with good points but that dude needs to look in a mirror. Nope, no pot calling the kettle black here.
The USA is on a collision course with the rest of the world, but I have faith that Putin as well as Modi in India are going to have a positive influence. There’s something sinister and terribly Orwellian happening in the English-speaking world. It doesn’t have a name yet.