Next week the International Security Conference will be held in Munich - the largest forum for discussing problems in this area. The organizers of the event yesterday published an analytical report on the key threats and challenges to the modern world order, According to Kommersant.
Chairman of the Munich Conference, former senior German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger wrote in the foreword to the report:
Over the past year, the world has repeatedly found itself on the brink of serious conflict.. The confrontation between North Korea and the United States has intensified, Rhetoric on both sides has escalated to the extreme. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are developing in the same direction, which has already led to further destabilization of the region. In Europe, tensions between NATO and Russia remain high, the war in and around Ukraine continues. Major arms control agreements, First of all, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, on the verge of breakdown. Attempts to limit the arms race in other areas, including cyberspace, are stalling.
In his opinion, this year there may be an escalation of one of the conflicts - “with catastrophic consequences for the whole world”.
We have to do everything, in our power, to get away from this abyss, he called.
The report devotes a separate chapter to Russia. It provides data from a December survey by the Levada Center., Whereby 72% respondents consider their country a “great power”.
“The impression of Russia’s growing strength is not unfounded., since Moscow has managed to significantly increase its regional and global influence in recent years", - the document says.
According to the authors, Almost all, that Russia can “record it as an asset”, for the West is a challenge or threat: “The war in and around Ukraine, fueled by Moscow, froze Kyiv's chances of becoming a member of the EU or NATO. Disinformation campaign ahead of presidential elections 2017 year in France was ineffective, but interference in the electoral process in the United States in 2016 year brought dividends to Moscow. And in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia managed to create a network of politically and economically dependent structures, allowing her to directly influence decision making (in these countries)».
The authors of the report consider the operation in Syria to be the main foreign policy achievement of Russia..
“After spending a relatively small amount and using a limited contingent, Moscow managed to reverse the course of the conflict in Syria. Russia helped the regime stay in power, and she again declared herself as an influential, including from a military point of view, player in the Middle East. Besides, intervention in the Syrian conflict gave the modernized Russian armed forces the opportunity to test modern weapons, including cyber weapons, drones and cruise missiles", - says the report.
The authors of the report acknowledge, that the liberal world order is in crisis, but emphasize: Russia “is not able to offer a more attractive model”. In their opinion, China can do it, combining “authoritarian governance with a thriving economy”.
used photos: http://www.globallookpress.com
