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On April 19, 2024, the World Forum “New Era – New Ways” took place in Moscow. The organizer of the event is the International Organization of Eurasian Cooperation (IOEC). The Eurasian Peoples' Assembly was one of the Forum's partners and held a panel session dedicated to public diplomacy.
Leading representatives of international organizations, authorities, leaders of the business community, experts, scientists and cultural figures from various countries took part in the work of the World Forum.
The central theme was the Greater Eurasian Partnership in a multipolar world, its role, sectoral structure, problems of forming instruments for a multipolar world and ways to solve them.
Outlining the tasks of international cooperation today, the leader of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly noted the importance of working with the younger generation:
Andrey Belyaninov – Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly:
“Now we need to study what original features, regional features of countries there are. It is necessary to do in order to respect the culture of each country. Unfortunately, now the “forces of darkness” are advancing. And for everyone, the most important task is to work with young people. If we count, since 1991 several billion people have already been born in the world. You have to watch - what kind of mood they are in and definitely work with them.”
As part of the World Forum events, a plenary session and thematic sections were held on issues of business development and economic relations in the Greater Eurasia space, harmonization of legislation and problems of law enforcement, innovation and technology transfer in a multipolar world, cooperation in the field of protection of rights and freedoms, scientific and educational activities, issues of supporting public diplomacy as a way to overcome differences.
The main topic of the panel session organized by the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly was “Public diplomacy as a tool of cooperation in a multipolar world.” Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, spoke about the increasing role of public organizations in international cooperation:
“The collective West does not abandon its attempts to maintain its exclusivity and restrain the development of new large centers of global growth. This leads to disorganization of international relations, increased imbalances in the global economy, and a deepening of the civilizational divide. Under these conditions, the Eurasian continent is increasingly in demand for a unifying agenda that promotes constructive interaction and the emergence of new forms of cooperation between large regional interstate associations.”
The issues discussed by the expert participants in the session outlined the main range of pressing problems and ways to solve them:
- Creation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership: new protocols of interaction;
- Business diplomacy: from people’s trust to economic trust;
- Public diplomacy. How informal leaders change the world;
- Cultural and humanitarian cooperation as a tool of public diplomacy;
- Spiritual and moral culture: the formation of man of the third millennium;
- Tools for the development of youth public diplomacy;
- Public diplomacy. Preservation of historical memory. Intergenerational link;
- Sports diplomacy. Sport unites peoples.
Alexandra Ochirova, Co-Chair of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly, member of the State Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, raised acute humanitarian issues of the development of today's world. In her speech, she stated that humanitarian risks and challenges should be added to the list of global problems:
“The President of the MOES said that one of the objectives of this forum is to create space for new paths to the future. This is a very serious topic. Having listened to all the speeches that were here, I noted that there were a lot of economic problems, interactions, and it sounded that the economy is the most important thing. I will allow myself to draw your attention to another topic - representatives of this thought won the Nobel Prize: "The most profitable investments are in people. In human capital.” To this I would add that they are also the most moral. Once upon a time in ancient times man always interacted with nature and did not think himself out of touch with the whole world and that "man is the measure of all things". No nation, no civilization thinks itself without meaning and purpose. When meanings collapsed, civilisations collapsed and states were destroyed. With the understanding of what is happening now in this world, which does not correspond to the high human nature, we can say that now humanitarian science has practically forgotten that there are values. The humanitarian side of today's politics and diplomacy is by far the weakest".
Andrey Belyaninov, as the moderator of the venue, set a very sharp tone for the conversation, talking about “hot” spots and situations in the world:
“There are hidden contradictions in states and societies, and destructive forces in the world are beginning to shake them up. Countries are pitted against each other. It seems to me that the residents of these countries should find the strength to overcome something within themselves, sit down at the negotiating table, sit next to young people who will continue to live, and start talking about peace initiatives, about the peaceful development of our civilization. Politicians are probably not allowed to talk about it, but people's diplomacy can speak in easy-to-understand language.”
The speakers at the panel session of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly were:
- Ekaterina Torubarova – Head of the Public Diplomacy Department of Rossotrudnichestvo;
- Karin Kneisl, Head of the G.O.R.K.I Center at St. Petersburg State University, expert analyst, author of books, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria;
- Zheng Wei, Secretary General of the SCO China Committee for Good Neighborhood, Friendship and Cooperation;
- Dalbir Singh, member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, President of the Foundation for Policy and Governance (India);
- His Excellency Sheikh Naif Al-Adwani, Representative of the State of Kuwait for Public Diplomacy (Kuwait);
- Svetlana Sharenkova, Deputy Secretary General of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, Chairman of the Bulgaria-Russia Forum;
and other experts.
There were many fruitful contacts and important acquaintances on the sidelines of the Forum. It was an interesting meeting between two representatives of India, experts who had not previously known each other, but both were in partnership with the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly. Dr. Rameshwar Singh, President of the Russian-Indian Friendship Society "DISHA", held a friendly meeting with the speaker of the discussion group Dalbir Singh, President of the Foundation for Policy and Governance and member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly. The guests discussed issues of strengthening Indian-Russian ties for the sake of a bright future.
In the future, following the results of the World Forum “New Era – New Ways”, the organizers plan to prepare proposals from participants in the dialogue platform on the formation of a Greater Eurasian Partnership.
