On August 14, 2017, the Valdai Discussion Club will hold an expert discussion, titled "Interference in elections and future relations between Russia and the West". During the discussion will be presented the Valdai Paper “‘Russian Hackers’ in the US Election: Myths and Reality”, written by Pavel Sharikov.

       The topic of the so-called Russian interference into the elections in Western countries over the past year has almost reached the first place in relations with the US and many European states. In late July, under the pretext of the so-called Russian interference into the presidential election of 2016, the US Congress passed the bill, giving to the majority of anti-Russian sanctions the force of law and depriving the president of the right to abolish them. In addition, Moscow was accused of trying to influence the outcome of the recent presidential elections in France, and with the upcoming parliamentary elections in Germany accusations of Russian "interference" are already gaining momentum.

       In the near future, the relevance of the "Russian trace" is unlikely to slow down: it has become a factor in the internal political struggle in the key Western countries, and also serves as an excuse for a confrontational politics.

       Are these accusations justified or are they solely the artificial instrumentalization of the Russian factor, when the traditional elites of Western countries are losing ground? What conclusions can be drawn from the investigations and discussions of the so-called Russian interference in the US elections? Why Moscow is used as the main object of attacks? How to react on this and what are the consequences for Russia-Western and international relations? These and other questions will be answered by the participants at the expert discussion.

       Speakers:

       Pavel Sharikov, Director of the Center for Applied Research of the Institute of USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

       Oleg Demidov, Global Internet Governance and Cyber Security Consultant, PIR Center

       Sabine Fischer, Head of Eastern Europe and Eurasia division, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP); Professor at the Freie Universit？t Berlin – via videolink from Germany

       Moderator:

       Dmitry Suslov, Programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

       Working languages: Russian and English (simultaneous interpreting)

       To attend, please fill out the accreditation form . If you have any questions, please call +7 903 565 81 61. (Public Relations Department).