In Moscow, the forum “The CIS Youth: Future of Public Dilomacy” is being held. It is dated to the 20th anniversary of the Commonwealth's foundation. The forum is organized by Rossotrudnichestvo, fulfilling the presidential order on the implementation of the program of short-term visits in Russia by young representatives of political, social, scientific and business circles of foreign states. Journalists, art experts, historians, and writers from the CIS countries participate in the forum. They discuss social-political, historic-cultural cooperation and information policy in the Commonwealth territory.
The chief-executive of the Russian Council on international affairs Andrey Kortunov said that in the past, public diplomacy was considered as unnecessary subsidiary of traditional ways of foreign policy conduction. At the moment the situation is different. We live in the world of globalization, which means foreign policy concerns everyone. “Foreign policy influence people’s life. It is fair that people are interested in foreign policy and insist on their participation in it,” Kortunov thinks. Today public diplomacy is one of basis of the contemporary world order. Of course, involving of public in the world policy can be destructive, we have an example of the Middle East. But it can be a positive constructive force. Kortunov thinks that characteristics of the force depend on young people, who got together in the forum.
Public diplomacy is a source of new ideas and approaches to the world policy, which are unavailable to state bodies due to specificity of their work. These approaches, initiated by social organizations and professional associations, could solve problems, which traditional diplomacy cannot solve. However, the role of public diplomacy is not limited by this aspect. It can participate directly in diplomatic process within implementation of its projects. Public diplomacy can provide complexity and succession of foreign policy in any state. According to Kortunov, no arguments within the CIS format can be effective and fruitful if public diplomacy is not involved, and peoples of our countries do not participate in life intergovernmental cooperation.
According to the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Farid Mukhametshin, initiators of the forum hope to show the participants the current state of affairs in Russia. “I would like you to find new friends and go home in a good mood with bright impressions, thus, you want to visit Russia again. We will do our best for it,” Mukhametshin promised. He said that success and effectiveness of the CIS were confirmed by 11th heads of states-members of the Commonwealth at the anniversary summit in Dushanbe in September 2011. Almost all participants of the summit viewed positively prospects of the CIS and supported the further development cooperation program, especially in economic and humanitarian spheres. Despite existing contradictions and conflicts between participants of the Commonwealth, the organization proved its viability.
“We should accept the CIS as absolutely positive institute, which enables us working and finding mutually beneficial decisions,” Mukhametshin emphasized. Success of the organization depends on ability of the states-participants to respect national interests of each other and support each other. Of course, a lot depends on Russia, the authorities of which suggested new initiatives like the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space and the idea of the Eurasian Union.
