The XII Primakov Readings International Forum was held in Moscow

On June 23-24, the 12th International scientific and Expert forum "Primakov Readings" was held in Moscow at the Radisson Blu Leninsky Prospect Hotel in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The event was attended by more than 400 leading foreign experts in the field of international security, world politics and economics from 17 countries, including China, India, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, Bulgaria, Qatar, the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. The topic of the forum is "A world without rules: a power game?".

On the first day, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov, Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev and President of the IMEMO RAS, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Dynkin spoke at the opening of the Forum.

Yuri Ushakov addressed the Forum participants: "The reality is, and it cannot be ignored, that the so-called collective West, which still plays a significant role on the world stage, is doing everything to replace the international order established after World War II with its own rules-based order. Rules invented for themselves and arbitrarily interpreted solely depending on their own selfish interests and motives."

According to Ushakov, the violent confrontation between multipolarity on the one hand and the rule-based order on the other will not only continue, but will also intensify. The Presidential Aide also read out a welcoming speech by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

The working part of the forum began with the session "Global consequences of regional conflicts". The session participants discussed the impact of regional conflicts on world politics and the economy, as well as the risks of further escalation of international tensions. The focus was on the consequences of the crises in the Middle East and other regions, the likelihood of new lines of global confrontation forming, the prospects for an inclusive security system in Eurasia, and the impact of geopolitical instability on the global economy. The experts also examined the transformation of the international order, the growth of domestic political polarization in Western countries, and the role of the leading powers in preventing further fragmentation of the global system. The moderator was the President of the IMEMO named after E.M. Primakov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.A. Dynkin.

Fyodor Voitolovsky, Director of the IMEMO of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in his speech raised the issue of the root causes of the global consequences facing the world today and touched upon the topic of economic and technological competition: "This process will be long because the parties are testing each other's strength. We are seeing it in a very acute form during the conflict in Ukraine. And, of course, this is not a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but between Russia and the collective West. Ukraine is, on the one hand, a proxy used by the West, and on the other, a platform on which, unfortunately, this conflict is unfolding. As in the confrontation between Israel and the United States with Iran, we see that the parties are testing each other's limits."

The second session of the Forum was devoted to the impact of internal political processes in the United States on shaping the country's foreign policy course. The experts examined the consequences of the political transformation associated with the presidency of Donald Trump, the deepening differences between Republicans and Democrats, as well as the impact of partisan and institutional competition on Washington's international strategy. Special attention was paid to the prospects of American foreign policy after Trump and how the internal political dynamics of the United States affects relations with allies, rivals and key global centers of power.

The final session of the first day of the Forum, "The Middle East: an unattainable peace?", included a discussion of the prospects for regional security, the role of external and regional players in crisis management, as well as the consequences of changing the balance of power in the region. The experts also considered the growing importance of cooperation between the countries of the Middle East with Russia, China, India and other non-Western states as one of the factors shaping new approaches to ensuring security and sustainable development in the region.

Mohamed Ali Shihi, Executive Director of the Global Institute for Strategic Studies (GISR) (Qatar), spoke about the future of the Middle East: "Speaking about the future security of the region, we see a shift from a unipolar world dominated by the United States to a rather complex, fragmented world, and it is in these circumstances that our region will exist."

"We see new relations and cooperation between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey, and perhaps we will see how other Gulf countries will join this architecture of interaction. From my point of view, the region needs a truly inclusive system of collective security. We are not talking about a structure like NATO or similar organizations. At least this way, we will have a security architecture that meets the conditions of our region," added Mohamed Ali Shihi.

The second working day of the XII Primakov Readings was opened by a session dedicated to future scenarios of the world order by the middle of the 21st century. The moderator was Dmitry Peskov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation and Presidential Press Secretary. In his speech, he noted: "It is obvious that the system of international relations, international organizations headed by the United Nations, the Security Council and its ability to participate in solving pressing problems, international economic foundations and even the main reserve currency are completely devalued. We see that there is a tendency to reduce the share of the main reserve currency, because the issuer is trying to impose its own rules, and other countries just don't like it."

The key event of the second day of the Forum was the speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

"I appreciate this opportunity to speak at the Primakov Readings, which traditionally brought together a representative cast of participants and officials, scientists, and experts from Russia and many countries around the world. Participation in this forum is a kind of tribute to the memory that we pay to E.M. Primakov, his outstanding personality, rich creative heritage and his ideas, which fully retain their relevance in our work today. It has been said more than once, including from this rostrum, that back in the mid-1990s, when the West was anticipating the advent of its global dominance, Yevgeny Primakov not only saw, predicted and formulated the imminent arrival of multipolarity, but also began to turn the Russian foreign policy ship precisely towards the emerging more just polycentric world order.."

The fifth session of the Forum was devoted to key challenges for global trade and investment in the context of growing geo-economic tensions. The focus was on the consequences of trade and technology wars, sanctions policies, protectionist measures, and the transformation of global value chains. The experts reviewed the prospects for international economic cooperation, the role of developing countries and associations, including BRICS, as well as possible mechanisms for maintaining sustainable trade and investment cooperation in the context of weakening existing global institutions.

The Primakov Readings Forum has been held since 2015 and is named after the statesman and scientist Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov. It is one of the leading Russian platforms for dialogue between Russian and foreign experts in the field of international security, world politics and economics, representatives of public organizations, politicians and diplomats on the most pressing issues on the global agenda.