On February 16, 2017, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held the first “city breakfast” in Fyodor Dostoevsky library.
Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs, and Timur Makhmutov, RIAC Deputy Director of Programs, gave a lecture “the World in 100 years. International affairs forecasting: what is waiting for us in the 22nd century?” The experts discussed the main trends influencing world politics, and suggested possible development options for international affairs.
On February 16, 2017, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) held the first “city breakfast” in Fyodor Dostoevsky library.
Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs, and Timur Makhmutov, RIAC Deputy Director of Programs, gave a lecture “the World in 100 years. International affairs forecasting: what is waiting for us in the 22nd century?” The experts discussed the main trends influencing world politics, and suggested possible development options for international affairs.
The new RIAC book “The World in 100 Years” was also presented at the meeting. This anthology includes articles written by 55 experts, who predicted future development of politics, economies and social life. As Timur Makhmutov noted, “the book is the product of “brainstorming” and the method used, is called “intellectual provocation”.
The lecture was followed by a discussion. Ivan Timofeev and Timur Makhmutov paid special attention to regional development and changes. Ivan Timofeev stressed that the European Union faces new challenges and has two ways of development. Either the EU deepens political integration, which “crushes” sovereignty of nation-states, and builds democratic “empire”, or it remains an amorphous project with continuing fragmentation and disintegration. According to Ivan Timofeev, Southeast Asia is expected to deepen its integration. He also noted that India could eventually become one of the leading economies in the world.
The participants expressed their interest in the problem of the Artic, especially in discovering and exploring of energy resources in this region. Timur Makhmutov said that regardless of the fate of Artic ices, the main issue is infrastructure development. If the Arctic states start building partnerships, it can speed up the regional development and mining will become more efficient.
The restoring of Russia-U.S. relations was also covered. According to Ivan Timofeev, economic cooperation between the countries remains at the same level, as Washington has huge technological potential, and opportunities of Russian market are rather limited. The Director of Programs emphasized that while the United States will not be able to create a unipolar world even in 100 years, they will remain a superpower state.
City breakfast Úrbi et órbi (lat.: to the city and to the world) is an opportunity for citizens to learn more about the current issues in international affairs from leading experts in this field. The name of the series contains reference to the times of Ancient Rome, where important announcements started with the words “Úrbi et órbi”. The Russian International Affairs Council organizes Úrbi et órbi breakfasts together with Fyodor Dostoevsky library. The series is held in partnership with the online edition Lenta.ru.
