The Forum is held regularly in Moscow and it is a regular platform for public discussion on the most difficult issues of the global economy, international politics and security. Among others, leading representatives of Russian and international analytical centers, expert communities and diplomats participate in the event.
This year's event within the World Trade Center has been focused on global economic challenges, new economic forces around the world and ideological scenarios for the divided society.
The session was opened by the president of IMEMO. E. M. Primakov from the Russian Academy of Sciences, economist, professor Aleksander Aleksandrowicz Dynkin, according to whom, we live in the times of populism, isolationism and the crisis of trust in the ruling circles. In his speech also mentioned that the globalization and technology redistributed global leadership, and he expressed concern about liberalism in the words "there is a clash of unipolar and multi-directional trends, and free economic competition is at risk".
The first panel speech in the discussion entitled "The retreat of Western liberalism and a new confrontation of great powers", where President Aleksander Kwaśniewski began by presenting the causes of the crisis of liberal democracy. He expressed the opinion that the existing technological revolution is a threat to traditional forms of communication, which causes the multiplicity of sources to affect the ease of manipulation. In addition, "the new situation in global politics has ended the leading role of the United States. There are new centers of political and economic influence - a multipolar world that is still in the development phase, but in the next decade we will see an increase in the influence of Asian countries, China, Russia and India", he said. Climate change has also been considered to be one of the most important challenges to be addressed.
In the further part, panelists shared mentioned ideas or formulated their own thesis. Mikulas Dzurinda, president of the Center for European Studies Wilfried Martens, expressed the opinion that a complete retreat from Western liberalism is unlikely, and China's rapid economic growth requires us to adapt, while respecting economic rules. The economic thesis was also shared by Carl Bildt, Co-Chair of the European Foreign Affairs Council (ECFR), who added that "governments must be more open and representative, they have to implement new management models". Thomas Graham, director of Kissinger Associates and Senior Fellow at Yale University, also pointed the need for fair trade for all countries, because it would help to avoid dangerous conflicts. Subsequently, the moderator gave the floor to Fyodor Aleksandrowicz Lukyanov, chairman of the Presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, the editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs, who concluded that "regional challenges may cause imbalances all over the world". According to him, the new era of the liberal order began with the end of the Cold War and the spread of the model to the East of Europe, but today it is important to not solve current global problems with old methods.
Foto: https://www.flickr.com/photos/imemoras/48084816498/in/album-72157709136700187/
Photographs credit is from organizers website, full video relation is available on the website : https://www.imemo.ru/primakov-readings.