International Affairs No. 4, 2021 – Table of Contents

On June 16, 2021, Geneva hosted a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joseph R. Biden. The Russian-American talks began with a narrow-format meeting with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The negotiations subsequently continued in an expanded format. At the end of the summit, a US-Russia Presidential Joint Statement on Strategic Stability was adopted.

Vladimir Putin began his press conference with the words: “I think there is no need for long opening remarks since everyone is familiar with the topics of discussion in general: strategic stability, cybersecurity regional conflicts, and trade relations. We also covered cooperation in the Arctic. This is pretty much what we discussed.” …

Key words: US, Biden, challenges, politics, China, coronavirus, Trumpism, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN).

FIVE months have passed since the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, and in this time, the US has faced a variety of domestic and foreign challenges requiring a quick response from the White House. This response, both on its own but especially in comparison with the actions of the Obama and Trump administrations in similar situations, provides ample material for analyzing the behavior patterns of the new American leadership. …

Keywords: Russia-USA, 21st century, relations crisis, political results, road map, new “reset,” economic diplomacy.

AT THE turn of the 21st century, Russian-American relations were characterized by a flurry of activity from political elites and diplomats. For example, in the course of a single year, from September 1999 to September 2000, Vladimir Putin, as prime minister and then as president of Russia, and US President Bill Clinton participated in multiple high-level meetings together, including an APEC summit, a G8 summit, and the Millennium Summit put on by the United Nations in New York. …

Key words: World Health Organization (WHO), COVID-19 pandemic, information, organization, medical community, governments, finances, vaccination.

THE COVID-19 pandemic, which began as just another routine outbreak of infection in a region where many other virus infections are endemic (for example, influenza), became in a matter of months a global medical challenge to states and international institutions and a threat in many other respects [2]. …

Key words: COVID-19, Latin American countries, WHO, global economic crisis, sovereign states.

THE CRISIS triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major test for Latin America. In late May 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the region the new epicenter of the pandemic,¹ which peaked in July-August 2020. The fairly fragmented health systems in all Latin American countries were unprepared to deal with this wide-scale crisis. …

Key words: combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), anti-money laundering (AML) standards, cryptocurrency, terrorist groups and their associates.

A DISCUSSION about the effectiveness of the global system for antimoney laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) is unfolding in the Western media and expert community. In 2020, according to some estimates, global banks paid out about $10.4 billion in fines for AML violations, an increase of more than 80% (!) from 2019. A case in point is Capital One, an American bank that was fined almost $400 million in January 2021 for failing to report thousands of fishy transactions. Danske Bank is still trying to deal with the fallout from a scandal that erupted in 2018, when it was reported that the bank had laundered more than $200 billion through its Estonian branch. John Cusack, an ex-chair of the Wolfsberg Group, an association of banks that helps develop AML standards, estimates the amount of financial crime perpetrated in 2018 at $5.8 trillion, equivalent to about 6.7% of global GDP for that year. …

Key words: Tatmadaw, National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, Union Solidarity and Development Party.

ACCORDING to the ancient Greek writer and historian Xenophon, the development of history is cyclical. This idea is almost 2,500 years old. Is it applicable to the current situation in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar? …

Key words: information confrontation, Cold War, Olympic Games, anti-doping system, World Anti-Doping Agency, RUSADA, Court of Arbitration for Sport.

IN THE 21st century, information confrontation is becoming one of the main means of achieving superiority in the geopolitical confrontation between individual states, as well as between various interstate associations, unions, and coalitions. At this new stage of the restructuring of the world order, initiated by powerful interests that include representatives of the world’s financial, economic, information, and political elites, Russia has once again found itself at the center of global contradictions, as it has the largest reserves of natural resources, vast territory, and significant environmental, intellectual, strategic military, communication, and other capabilities. …

Key words: civil society, political processes, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), subsidiarity, third sector, social capital.

THE PARTICIPATION of civil society in the politics of various countries is receiving increasing scholarly attention. Two clashing opinions regarding the place and role of civil society in today’s world stand out in works written on this subject. Some researchers believe that civil society organizations should stay out of politics, while others insist that involving all civil society groups in the political process is vital to obtaining unique and accurate information necessary for political decision-making. Moreover, in European Union countries, for instance, persistent efforts have been made in recent years to improve governance mechanisms by drawing civil society into this integration organization at various levels [2]. …

Key words: CYD MFA of Russia, IAYD, MDC, Znak Analytical Club, School of Young Diplomats, School of Teenage Diplomats project.

IN NOVEMBER 2021, the Council of Young Diplomats (CYD) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will mark its 20th anniversary. Although 20 years is not all that long, it is still a long time to be bringing together young specialists. Over the years, the CYD’s membership has changed and expanded, and its trends, priorities, and approaches to working with young diplomats have evolved. …

Key words: 65 years, United Nations Association of Russia. International Model United Nations (IMUN), Russian Foreign Ministry. MGIMO, Sustainable Development Goals, 2030 Agenda, UN secretary-general, UN Global Compact.

ON MARCH 28, 2021, the United Nations Association of Russia (UNA-Russia) turned 65. UNA-Russia is an international nongovernmental organization with a mission of providing “all forms of support for the objectives and principles proclaimed by the UN Charter” and helping to “strengthen confidence and friendship among nations.” …

ROSNEFT took part in the 2021 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum [SPIEF].

For the Rosneft public joint-stock company, the 24th annual SPIEF event was rich and productive. The main event for the oil and gas sector at SPIEF 2021 was a speech by the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, on the “Transformation of World Energy.” …

Key words: Latvia, 1922 Constitution, 1940 Declaration on the Accession of Latvia to the Soviet Union, Declaration of Independence of 1990, noncitizens, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1965.

THE POPULATION of Latvia, which as of the start of 2017 stood at 1,950,100, consists of members of more than 150 ethnic groups, with Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, Roma, Germans, and Estonians being the largest ethnic minorities.¹ Russians make up the largest of these groups. …

Key words: international information security, ICT, CSTO, ASEAN.

ON April 12, 2021, Russian Presidential Decree No. 213 approved the Fundamentals of Russian State Policy in the Field of International Information Security.¹ …

Key words: information and communications technologies (ICTs), international information security, United Nations, UN General Assembly, Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG), Group of Governmental Experts (GGE), rules, norms, and principles for the responsible behavior of states in cyberspace.

THE YEAR 2020 made it abundantly clear that the world is firmly and apparently immutably digitalized. All countries, regardless of their level of political, military, socioeconomic, and technological development, use information and communications technologies (ICTs) in various fields. But governments are certainly not the only users of ICTs. Companies, research and educational institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and civil society have swiftly adapted their work to the virtual format. It is convenient, accessible, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, often the only possible format. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the digital space has become a familiar habitat for most of the world’s population. …

Key words: ICT, WSIS, ITU, UN.

THE YEAR 2021 is a significant one for the Communications Administration of the Russian Federation: We are chairing the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum for the first time. That decision was made in late 2020, after which we immediately set out to make this a truly substantive event. …

Key words: coal, renewable energy sources, coal chemicals, coal industry, carbon-free energy, restructuring, mining, multiplier effect.

International Affairs: Yuri Konstantinovich [Shafranik], leading Western economies one after another are deciding to stop using coal in the energy sector. The UK plans to close seven coal-fired power plants in 2022, and its last coal plant will be shut down in 2025. Italy is going to abandon coal that same year. France is accelerating the decommissioning of coal power plants scheduled for 2023. Germany’s current coal-fired power generating capacity will be reduced by more than a quarter by 2022. Is the sunset of the coal era just around the corner? …

Key words: heritage, political-diplomatic choice, “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” “black legend,” truth, national idea.

IN MAY 2021, Russia marked an important anniversary: the 800th birthday of our legendary forefather, the Faithful Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky. We can and should be proud of the fact that he is the patron saint of Russia’s diplomatic service. It is for good reason that Russia’s best diplomats are awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky for outstanding achievements in promoting our national interests. It is our duty to observe the date duly and with dignity. …

Key words: Prince Alexander Nevsky, politician, military leader, diplomat, statesman.

THE JOURNAL International Affairs has created Alexander Nevsky: Diplomat, Warrior, Saint – a documentary film to commemorate the 800th birthday of Alexander Nevsky. …

Key words: Great Patriotic War, Russian soldier, private of the guards, Abai.

BEFORE the war, Abai sewed Astrakhan hats for colonels and generals, which exempted him from the draft. It stayed that way until early 1943, when keeping able-bodied men from combat service became inadvisable. Abai was assigned to transport ammunition by horse and cart. He worked conscientiously, and by the time Soviet forces entered Germany, he had been awarded three medals: two for Meritorious Service in Combat, and one for the Liberation of Warsaw, where he had never actually set foot. This was standard practice for those toilers who served honorably but were not directly involved in combat. …

Key words: NKID, “all for all” and “one for one,” People’s Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov, Ambassador Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, evacuation, concentration camps, mediation.

THE AGGRESSION of fascist Germany and its satellites required a radical restructuring of the Soviet state machine. Both the central and foreign offices of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (NKID) were instructed to look for possible allies in forming a future anti-Hitler coalition. But the NKID was shorthanded.¹ In the first days of the war, many of those who worked in the central office volunteered for the front, while those who were working abroad in European countries were taken prisoner by German fascists and their satellites. …

Key words: World War II, the USSR, Afghanistan, Germany, Great Britain.

THE RADICAL turn in the Great Patriotic War brought by the victories of the Red Army at Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge forced the Soviet Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition to revise their positions on events unfolding at the Soviet-German front. The ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain realized that the time had come to think about postwar arrangements on the European continent. Absolutely convinced that sooner or later the Third Reich would collapse, Western politicians were worried about the postwar political situation in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. …