On July 10 at 16:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion titled “Peace Through Strength: The Middle East Funnel”.

       The expression “peace through strength” has recently become very common among politicians and the media in the West. To some extent, it represents the continuation of attempts by the United States and Europe to maintain a central place in international politics by relying on military instruments and a strategy of forcing other countries to make decisions that are beneficial to the West.

       This approach is most evident in Middle Eastern affairs: Israel’s military campaign against its neighbours meets the current interests of the United States. However, in the longer term, reliance on military instruments is doomed to lead the West itself and world politics as a whole to a dead end. Problems are not solved, they only get worse.

       What is the role of the United States in the Middle East crisis? How will the military campaign against Iran affect the process of nuclear proliferation? What might be the reaction of other states interested in acquiring nuclear weapons? The participants of the discussion will try to answer these and other questions.

       Speakers:

       Alexander Maryasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Thailand and Permanent Representative to ESCAP (2010-2014), Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Iran (2001-2005)

       Abbas Mirzai Ghazi, representative of the Russian-Iranian Centre for Legal and Economic Cooperation (Iran)

       Mark Episkopos, Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Public Administration (USA)

       Barbara Slavin, Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington (USA)

       Moderator:

       Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics

       Working languages: Russian, English.

       Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our web site. If you have any questions about the event, please call +79269307763

       Links to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms of the Valdai Club: on the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.