Valdai Club analyzes the world order

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Recently the report 'World Order: The New Rules or Game Without Rules' by the Valdai Discussion Club was presented in Moscow. It analyzes challenges to the state as an institution in the modern world.

Speaking at the presentation, the First Vice-Rector of the HSE, Leo Jacobson, stated that “the condition of conflict and tension, which exists between the state of bilateral relations and the needs of economic development, technological and cultural interaction, is clearly obvious, but the world order, in the form in which it was shaped, did not at all favor this variety of economic, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation.”

According to Jacobson, “the world order, if we speak about its intergovernmental dimension, did not keep up with the trends of globalization. The world order was built after World War II to meet the needs and opportunities of the time, and it happened before, in general, the very large-scale and significant changes in the economy and culture that took place in the second half of the 20th century. A certain way out of the situation was proposed by the concept of the end of history, today it causes nothing but sad smiles, yet an alternative has not been found.”

The attempt to establish some sort of universal method of interaction, suitable for all processes that happen in the world, would be doomed to failure, according to Jacobson. He thinks that “today it is crucial to interact over the barriers, not pretending as if the barriers have been eliminated. To look for opportunities of cooperation among scientists, artists, no matter what they think about the conflict in Ukraine or in the Middle East. My moderate optimism, moderate due to the fact that certain problems are not likely to be solved in the near future, and the state will not merge in ecstasy on the basis of a new end of history. However, science, culture, trade and business, all this can be developed in a much more successful way than is done today.”