The 5th Youth Session of the Primakov Readings: Day Two

The 5th Youth Session of the Primakov Readings: Day Two

The second day of the business program, dedicated to the analysis of the current regional processes in Central Asia and the prospects of global energy transition, concluded the Youth Session of the Primakov Readings in Moscow.

Stanislav Pritchin, a Senior Researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of the IMEMO has opened the discussion on Central Asia by indicating the defining regional events of the last couple of years.

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«One of the fundamental changes that had happened in the Region was the hasty withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan. That all went down according to a completely unpredictable scenario: no one had expected Ashraf Ghani’s government to fall that quickly. In line with the American expectations, it could have stayed a while longer with some limited support from the US . But, that was not what had happened, and the Taliban (the organization is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation) coming into power formed a new reality for Central Asia».

Stanislav Pritchin, Cand.of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies, IMEMO

The expert has also underlined that Central Asia is considered by Russia a rather unproblematic dimension of its foreign policy: the countries engage on both bilateral and intergovernmental levels, plus the region remains an important sales market for Russian companies.
Stanislav Pritchin has paid additional attention to the current situation in Kazakhstan in the context of the events that took place in January 2022 and highlighted that the origins of the crisis still remain one of the potential instability factors for the country, despite its exterior tranquility.

According to Ivan Safranchuk, the Director of the Center of Euro-Asian Studies at the Institute for International Studies, MGIMO University, due to deglobalization we are witnessing today the countries of Central Asia are facing a serious question regarding their very own niche in world economy and politics.

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«After the dissolution of the USSR, which had been in competition with the West at the front line of global progress, the post-Soviet countries believed they would stay a part of the developed world. But those expectations were not met entirely. Nowadays, the countries of Central Asia are going through the same processes that are typical for developing countries. Neither the civil societies, nor the elites of Central Asian countries are willing to tolerate this reality. Instead, they are hoping to move further up and attain more advanced positions in the global system. However, the ways to do that are not obvious. Over the last decade two major trends have been dominating the region – regionalization and globalization. Today, when we are facing the degradation of the global economic system, this choice requires special attention».

Ivan Safranchuk, Cand.of Sciences (Politics), Director of the Center of Euro-Asian Studies, Institute for International Studies, MGIMO University

Stanislav Zhukov, the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Deputy Director of the IMEMO has spoken on the prospects of the Global Energy Transition with the participants of the Youth Session. According to the expert, within the next 10 to 15 years, the global energy market should expect a fundamental reconstruction due a wider distribution of electric vehicles.

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«The transport mobility is gradually changing. The European Parliament has recently adopted a decision, according to which the last car running on petrol or diesel should be sold by 2035. Meanwhile, today, up to 60% of the global fuel consumption falls on the means of transportation, including freight ones. Thus, the energy transition will cause a serious oil market reconfiguration. This process will affect the countries that have taken hold as oil producers in the global distribution of labor system. Amongst the post-Soviet countries there are a few - Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan».

Stanislav Zhukov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. of Sciences (Economics), Deputy Director of the IMEMO

During the business program, the participants of the Youth Session have presented the results of their independent research in accordance with the 4 thematic clusters on the agenda. Thus, the young scientists have presented scientific and analytical works dedicated to the matters of cyber security and technological development, artificial intelligence, strategies for creating a new Security Architecture both in Europe and in the world, the development prospects of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the analysis of the bilateral relations between China, Russia, and Central Asian countries, the future of EU’s Climate Agenda and many other topical issues.

The participants of the Youth Session will continue their joint efforts in creating a new research project in the period leading up to the 7th International Scientific and Expert Forum the “Primakov Readings”.

We would like to remind you that the 5th Youth Session is held by the Primakov Center for International Cooperation along with the Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of the IMEMO and supported by the Russian Presidential Grants Foundation. Young scientists from Russia, FSU and beyond are taking part in the Youth Session.