On February 4-5, the Valdai Discussion Club, in collaboration with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will hold its fourteenth Middle East Conference. The theme of the conference is “The Middle East – 2025: Learning Lessons from the Past, Surviving the Present, and Designing the Future” The event will take place at the Club’s headquarters in Moscow, located at Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 16/1.
The conference will bring together over 50 experts, active political figures, and intellectuals from 15 countries, including Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Turkey.
On the Russian side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, will attend as an honorary guest. The high-ranking international guests include:
- Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, Ambassador; Former Senior Undersecretary at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt; UN Assistant Secretary General;
- Ahmed Majdalani, Palestinian Minister of Social Development and member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization;
- Bashar Jaafari, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Syria to the Russian Federation;
- Nabil Fahmi, Honorary Dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in Cairo.
The Valdai Middle East Conference remains one of the Club’s largest annual international events. Over its fourteen-year history, the conference has chronicled the development of events in the Middle East: from the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq and the Arab Spring to the conflicts in Syria and Libya.
The 14th Middle East Conference will take place against the backdrop of the regime change in Syria, escalating Iranian-Israeli tensions, the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and the crisis in the Red Sea. The situation in the Middle East is not only marked by turbulence, but is also characterized by the transformation and reshaping of the entire regional relations system.
The goal of the conference is to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East with representatives from as many involved parties as possible, explore ways to reduce tensions in the region, and consider Russia’s approaches to resolving existing issues.
The two-day agenda of the conference is designed to achieve this goal. It includes an opening ceremony, six thematic sessions, and a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.
During the sessions, experts will discuss the following topics:
- The Middle East: Back to the Unity That Never Existed?
- Russia in the Middle East: New Challenges;
- Syria: What’s Next?
- The New Role of Mediators in Conflict Resolution: The Case of Palestine;
- Transport Corridors and the Future of Security on Land and Sea;
- The Middle East in the Context of Modern Development: Sources of the Scientific and Technological Revolution.
In preparation for the Middle East Conference, the Valdai Club, in collaboration with the IOS RAS, has produced a new report titled “The Crossroads of Middle Eastern Uncertainty” examining the paths of Syria’s development following the regime change. The fall of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of new forces raise serious questions about the future of the state, which can only be secured through a series of comprehensive reforms. The authors of the report propose five such reforms.
The international participants this year include:
- Zaid Eyadat, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan;
- Yasser Abdulhussein, Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq;
- Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) (Iran);
- Amal Abou Zeid, Advisor to the President of Lebanon;
- Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, President of the Emirates Policy Center (UAE);
- Muhammad Athar Javed, Founder and CEO of Pakistan House (Pakistan);
- Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General and Co-Founder of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI) (Palestine).
The Russian participants invited to the conference include:
- Vitaly Naumkin, Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Irina Zvyagelskaya, Head of the Center for Middle East Studies at IMEMO RAS;
- Alexander Maryasov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Iran (2001–2005);
- Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club;
- Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club;
- Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club;
- Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director at the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club.
Working languages: Russian, Arabic, 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.