RIAC Hosts Presentation of Valdai Club Paper “Islamic State: Alternative Statehood?”

On November 24, 2015, RIAC and International Discussion Club Valdai presented analytical paper “Islamic State: Alternative Statehood?” described to the invited members of academia and media by its author Vassily Kuznetsov, PhD in History, Head of Center for Arabic and Islamic Research at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, who analyzed the ISIS project and its potential in view of settling key MENA problems.

On November 24, 2015, RIAC and International Discussion Club Valdai presented analytical brief “Islamic State: Alternative Statehood?” described to the invited members of academia and media by its author Vasily Kuznetsov, PhD in History, Head of Center for Arabic and Islamic Research at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, who analyzed the ISIS project and its potential in view of settling key MENA problems. 

Opening remarks were made by RIAC Program Director Ivan Timofeev and Valdai Academic Director Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine and RIAC member, who said that “events in the Middle East will have far-reaching consequences and even specialists are just arriving at realization of the fact.”

The presentation was followed by a debate with participation of Research Fellow at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Vladimir Sazhin, Director of Russian-Turkish Research Center at Russian State Library of Foreign Literature Ilshat Sayetov, Head of Israel Department at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Tatiana Karasova, Senior Research Fellow at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Boris Dolgov, Research Fellow at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Dmitry Mileyev, Professor Vladimir Pryakhin of Russian State University for Humanities, Advisor of Director of Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Elena Suponina, Chief Analyst of independent Epokha think tank Musa Khamzatov, Senior Research Fellow at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Natalia Zamarayeva, Senior Research Fellow at RAS Institute for Oriental Studies Vladimir Sotnikov, Professor Arkady Lipkin of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and Special Representative of Russian Foreign Minister on Middle East Settlement Ambassador (Ret.) Andrey Vdovin. 

The discussants reviewed the ideological basics of the ISIS and its prospects as a statehood project challenging the development of Middle Eastern countries. Special attention was given to the nature of extremist groups in the MENA covered in detail by RIAC’s new reader that was also offered to the audience.

Presentation of Valdai Club Brief “Islamic State: Alternative Statehood?”