Worlds Apart

Weaponised insecurity? Vasily Kashin, Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE

Over the last couple of months, the media coverage of Ukraine has been dominated by the hopes and fears of Kiev’s counter-offensive, which is meant to deliver, if not a lethal, then a humiliating blow to Russia and force it to retreat. While this possibility is dismissed in Moscow, does it offer an opportune off-ramp for all sides to cut their losses and trade a good war for a bad peace? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Vasily Kashin, Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics.

This interview was held on the sidelines of The Third Central Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Same but different? Hasan Unal, professor of political science & international relations at Maltepe University

A nail-biting first round followed by a close call in the second – the Turkish elections did not bring change to Ankara’s halls of power, but they will certainly be remembered for the ebbs and flows of the electoral process. With the Turkish domestic status quo holding, what does it mean for the transformation in the larger world? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Hasan Unal, Professor of political science and international relations at Maltepe University.

Direct and diplomatic? Yang Cheng, executive dean, Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies, SISU

Discretion and distancing have long been the defining features of Chinese diplomacy, with Beijing unwilling to upset its delicate balancing act with too much directness. But over the past couple of months, both the style and substance of China’s international posture has become far more explicit. What’s behind it and what does it mean for the rest of the world? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Yang Cheng, executive dean of the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies at Shanghai International Studies University.

The interview took place on the sidelines of the Third Central Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Too late to peace together? Timofei Bordachev, program director of the Valdai Discussion Club

For all their differences, one thing that Russia, China, and the US agree upon is that the world is at an unprecedented inflection point, with business as usual no longer feasible. Given how fundamental their disagreements are, how will the three powers navigate the changing world order? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Timofei Bordachev, program director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

This interview was held on the sidelines of the Third Central Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Winning in losing? Ilter Turan, professor emeritus of political science, Istanbul Bilgi University

An old Turkish saying posits that what a man suffers is the punishment of his tongue. This may never have been truer about Turkish politics, in which the firebrand rhetoric of President Erdogan electrifies half of the electoral base, repels the other, and encourages his opponents to do the same. With the second round of the election looming, will the Turks vote with their anger, their hopes, or something in between? To discuss this, Oksana is joined by Ilter Turan, professor emeritus of political science in the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University.

One year, all change? Wang Wen, Executive Dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies

The last two decades have seen many world-shaking events. There was 9/11 and the ensuing War on Terror, there was the 2008 financial crisis, the Arab Spring, and, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic. Could 2022 prove to have been just as geopolitically seismic?