Alexei Mukhin: "World as it existed destroyed"

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland finished on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th US President. The director of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the new international trends in politics and economics.

- Although the forum in Davos is called the economic one, big political issues are always discussed here. What was discussed the most this time?

- It is believed that Davos is a platform where business meets with the authorities. And it was not possible to get away from it. The authorities were listening business. Business was trying to imagine how the authorities will act. It is clear that the stuck process of globalization is a failed project. Apparently, in Davos they discussed a slight move away from the global model toward the formation of global economies. The reformatting of the global trade unions into regional, such as the Transatlantic and Transpacific trade, economic partnerships.The creation of new formats in the interests of not only the United States, which are obviously overextended after taking over virtually all of the preferences and risks of the global economic development, and now forced to look for reference points outside the US, paying attention to the solution of internal problems. In fact, it is the main content of the campaign, which ran between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. As a result, Davos stated that the old world as it existed was destroyed, and now there is a need to generate a new one. But there is no understanding of how to do it. Negotiations are under way. It is likely that proposals will be made at the next forum in Davos, to which the main economic players can't say no. So, we wait for the next Davos forum.

- What are the prospects for the abolition of the anti-Russian sanctions by new US president?

- While the US thinks that the sanctions policy affects the situation and causes some damage to Russia, this policy will continue. Another thing is that Trump may try to trade the sanctions relief on certain preferences from Russia. Initiatives of the Democrats and the Republicans on the introduction of new sanctions fit into this scheme very well. The broader sanctions, the more room for bargaining with Russia. Therefore, Trump and his opponents seem to have already begun to play "good and bad cops." I think there is something to discuss with Russia and the Russian leadership.

- How will the Russian-US relations develop under new leadership in the White House?

- We have common interests. Both countries are geopolitical players. Another thing is that the US uses a model of political and economic hegemony and Russia exploits a model, where politics rules over economics. There are certain advantages and certain disadvantages. Of course, Russia's economics cannot compete with the US, even in partnership with other countries (for example, India or the countries of the former Soviet Union). But it can in the alliance and partnership with China. And that is the key mistake made by the last two US president - George W. Bush and Barack Obama. They gave Russia the opportunity to fall into the arms of China. China was delighted to receive such game, because it was extremely advantageous, and did not give it any encumbrances, obligations and risks, only preferences. This is what China did, denoting its geopolitical and global economic ambitions.

- In your opinion, what is the fate of NATO?

- Most likely, NATO will undergo not only a global restructuring - there is an issue of abolition of this structure. NATO is a bureaucratic organization, extremely expensive. If the US continues to fund this organization with a very small exhaust, it is quite likely that it will be annulled. The existence of NATO does not have sense for the past two decades. The question is to what extent it is appropriate to maintain the alliance. Either NATO will completely change its format, or it will disappear as an institution.