The conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club “Security in Eurasia: from concept to practice”, which took place on December 9 in Moscow, became the starting point for discussion among the expert community of the countries of the continent on the topic of building a common security structure. Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Valdai Club, director general of the Russian Council of International Affairs, told RG about this.
The atmosphere during the meeting was very constructive, I would say friendly. Our task is to propose in the Russian expert community options for developing the principles of the Eurasian security architecture and possible ways to develop this initiative, starting from the ideas outlined by the President of Russia, raised in one way or another in his speeches, at meetings with the leaders of China and India and in the statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
We decided to carry out professional scientific work, laying down the scientific basis as we see it. The purpose of the conference is first of all to present our achievements. We write them down in the form of a report and do our “homework.” Second, attract the attention of our friends and colleagues who belong to the Valdai movement. There are our colleagues from China, India, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan – a very representative composition. I'm not even talking about the Russians involved; The color of our foreign policy ideology has been expressed.
I can say that the discussion was lively, cordial and very useful for building this initiative. We have covered basic conceptual issues, “hard” military security as well as economic security. Of course, there are other possible aspects, a whole sea of issues and topics to discuss, but you have to start somewhere and the conference is the starting point.
If we apply historical comparisons, the new architecture of Eurasian security becomes something somewhat closer to the Helsinki Final Act. At least in the expert community, we see such an algorithm of development: the creation of a normative document reflecting basic principles and the gradual accession of a number of countries to it. Build a consulting, consulting and forum mechanism on Asia-Europe security. At one time there was a Security Conference in Europe and there were certain similarities with it. But there could be some kind of foundation that would fund certain aspects of the work of this meeting, and most importantly, projects and programs.
In a sense, this really resembles the contours of the OSCE, but here serious work must be done to correct mistakes. Why doesn't this format work? Partly because the OSCE's third human rights basket has politicized the organization's work to a certain extent, the more formal economic basket and the security basket do not resolve the respective dilemmas that have existed since the Cold War.
In Eurasia, the situation is different. There are several major players here and the hegemony of one person is impossible. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. Therefore, by definition, the new structure cannot be a direct copy of the OSCE. And in fact, the grand conspiracy is exactly what it will lead to. But it's clear that we need to work hard to solve this problem.
Russia in general has always supported the principle of constructive international interaction. Thus, Moscow has advocated reducing conflicts in relations between India and China over the past three decades; On the contrary, it is in our nation's fundamental interest that they find common ground. Of course, no one expects New Delhi and Beijing to view the Eurasian security architecture in the same way and keep up. However, this is a communication platform, which in any case facilitates the reduction of tension. Let's look at the same BRICS. After all, our countries do interact with each other! This does not mean that everything is rosy, but this is one of the channels of communication on specific issues. The G20 plays a similar role. We propose a more substantive discussion of security issues of concern to everyone in the Eurasian space.
Of course, this is not what Americans call a “magic bullet” – a solution to all problems, but it is a factor that helps reduce risks. Relatively speaking, when quitting smoking, a person does not become healthy immediately, but at least he gets rid of a factor that negatively affects his body. If you start exercising in the morning, you will not become an athlete either, but gradually, step by step, it will have a positive effect. So here it is: a new opportunity to build bridges is presented.