From Rossiiskaya gazeta, Oct. 6, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:
The Valdai International Discussion Club has held its 22nd meeting. These annual discussions have become not only a tradition, but also a bellwether of the state of the international environment.
The tone is set by Valdai reports, where a hypothesis [as to] what, in the opinion of Russian experts, constitutes the main substance of the international process is put forward every year. [This hypothesis] serves as a starting point for intense four-day discussions by guests from all over the world – statesmen, political scientists, international affairs scholars, modern technology specialists [and] cultural professionals. The culmination is a plenary session with the Russian president – a genre that has no equivalent anywhere in the world: The president’s keynote speech, his conceptual assessment of the international situation, and then a long conversation with the audience.
It is difficult to briefly summarize such a rich event, but still, every year, an abundance of various statements crystallize into a key through line that is usually called a trend these days. In 2025, it should probably be summed up as follows: The world has finally and irreversibly entered the next phase of its development.
[This phase] can be described as multipolarity, polycentrism (the entire 2025 conference was titled “The Polycentric World: Instructions for Use”). More precise formulations may appear later, but this is no longer an intermezzo.
Nor is it a connecting element between the main parts of a large work [progressing] to an independent stage – probably quite a long one. It is permissible to consider [this stage] transitional, but to the same extent as any other one. After all, any sociopolitical status is an endless transformation of the system of public relations. Sometimes attempts are made to fixate it for a certain period, and then there is talk about an established order. In other cases, no, everything is too fluid and fast-paced, which paradoxically is also a status quo of sorts. The latter applies precisely to the present.
Paradoxically, the leitmotif of this year’s Valdai forum was precisely this remark by Vladimir Putin: “Frankly, I just want to say: Relax! Sleep peacefully, just take care of your own problems for a change!” This was addressed to the Europeans. It is a response to their penchant for seeing the “hand of Moscow” everywhere. However, in a broader interpretation, this can be applied to anything: In the present circumstances, any state, community, [or] society is faced with so many challenges that it is necessary to filter out the detritus, not waste time on it, and focus on pressing, vitally important matters (in the literal sense of the word, vital for living, for survival, for humanity). “There are so many objective problems in the world related to natural, anthropogenic and social factors that it is impermissible, wasteful and simply foolish to spend resources and energy on artificial, often contrived disagreements,” the Russian president said.
“Instructions for Use” is not a description of a tool or a mechanism, but a practical document on how to work with [a polycentric world]. Of course, commentators, analysts, [and] theorists will continue to study the sociopolitical reality that to us is given [only] in changing sensations. However, this is not an abstract intellectual exercise, but a foundation for practical activity here and now, without waiting for a stable result to emerge where [we] can feel at home and settle down for a long term. Living in a situation of a “major change” – not in the sense of a school break [the Russian word peremena means both “change” and “break” – Trans.], but the impossibility of saying at some point, “Stop, time – you are beautiful” – compels [us] to take a somewhat different look at [our] needs and capabilities. This is equally relevant for the person, society and the state.
A specific feature of the discussions at the Valdai forum (not only during the plenary session but throughout all four days) was – pardon the now unpopular concept – their inclusiveness. (Just when the Valdai meetings were taking place, the US military secretary [Pete Hegseth] solemnly damned this phenomenon, officially banishing it from the Pentagon, but he is not law to us.) Several years ago, the lineup of participants was such that the conversation often slipped into polemics between Russia and the West, with discussion topics pertaining primarily to this specific line of relations. That was more or less interesting, but it left others – those whom we now call the global majority – with the role of observers. Today, the audience is far more diverse, but most importantly, topics under discussion concern all [participants] without exception.
This is not a matter of politeness on the part of the organizers, who seek to get all attendees engaged. Global circumstances are such that it is impossible to sort them out by relying on one cultural tradition alone. Even considering that it is a tradition that has prevailed until recently (the Western tradition) and even now remains both intellectually and materially the most powerful, developed and rich. However, [this tradition] acknowledges (through its most prominent representatives. who are unaffected by ideological tunnel vision) that it has reached an impasse. It is also true that so far there are no convincing alternatives that could offer much-needed answers. As Vladimir Putin said, “we have entered a prolonged period of search, largely groping our way.” But groping one’s way does not mean moving aimlessly or chaotically. A search is always more effective when it is systematic. And this is precisely what the Valdai Club is doing.