Podcasts about Eurasian Economic Union

China and Russia issued a joint statement on Thursday on further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, agreeing to push forward the high-level development of bilateral ties, uphold a correct historical perspective on World War II and firmly defend international fairness and justice.The statement was jointly signed by President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin following their talks in Moscow.The two heads of state witnessed the exchange of more than 20 bilateral cooperation documents covering such areas as global strategic stability, upholding the authority of international law, biosecurity, investment protection, the digital economy, quarantine and film cooperation.Xi arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, his 11th visit to the neighboring country since becoming president, for a state visit and to attend celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the victories in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.The two heads of state have met more than 40 times on different occasions over the years."The foundation of political mutual trust between China and Russia has grown deeper, the ties of practical cooperation have become stronger, and cultural and local exchanges have flourished," Xi said, noting that China-Russia relations are more composed, confident, stable and resilient in the new era.Xi called on the two countries to continue with the general direction of cooperation, eliminate external interference, and make the foundation of cooperation more solid and the momentum for progress more abundant.China and Russia should leverage the complementary advantages of the two countries' resources and industrial systems to expand high-quality and mutually beneficial cooperation in areas such as trade and economy, energy, agriculture, aerospace and artificial intelligence, Xi said.The two countries should synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, in order to provide a platform for promoting high-standard connectivity, he said.Xi also urged the two sides to enhance coordination and cooperation on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS to unite the Global South, uphold genuine multilateralism and guide global governance reform in the right direction.As China is striving to build itself into a great modern socialist country in all respects, and is advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts, Xi said that China is determined and confident in overcoming various risks and challenges, and will steadfastly manage its own affairs well regardless of changes in the external environment.He expressed China's readiness to work together with Russia to shoulder the special responsibilities entrusted by the times, maintain the global multilateral trading system, and ensure the stability and smooth operation of industrial and supply chains.This will contribute more significantly to the development and revitalization of both countries and the safeguarding of international fairness and justice, Xi said.Putin, who received Xi with a welcoming ceremony on Thursday morning, said, "I am grateful that, just as you did 10 years ago for the previous anniversary, you have chosen to join us in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, which our nation holds sacred."Putin said that amid global uncertainty, the Russia-China relationship is a crucial stabilizing factor on the international stage and undoubtedly a model of state-to-state relations in the 21st century.Russia-China ties are built on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and respect for each other's interests and sovereignty, and are not directed against any third party, he said.Putin added that imposing high tariffs goes against common sense and is illegal, and will only backfire.He also said he will be delighted to make an official visit to China for the commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the end of World War II.

Armenia's Economic Diversification | Corruption | Bank SecrecyConversations on GroongTopics:  - Economic Diversification  - Systemic Corruption  - Bank Secrecy ScrappedGroong Links:* https://linktr.ee/groong* https://podcasts.groong.org/donateGuest:  - Tatul ManaseryanHosts:  - Hovik Manucharyan - TW/@HovikYerevan  - Asbed Bedrossian - TW/@qubriqEpisode 319 | Recorded: March 19, 2024Subscribe and follow us everywhere you are: linktr.ee/groong

2023 made a dent in Apple's global business. The company not just ceded the top spot to its rival Samsung, but also posted its fourth straight quarter of revenue decline on a yearly basis. It was the longest slump for the US firm in two decades. And not just this, the tech giant also faced the wrath of regulators in China, in the US and in the European Union. So will 2024 give some breather to Apple?  And it wasn't just tech giant Apple. India was also a big draw for foreign investors last year. And thanks to the rising wealth, Indian investors too are increasingly investing in foreign shores. In the first half of 2023, FDI outflow to Dubai saw an increase of 65% compared to the same period last year. So what is driving increased Indian FDI into Dubai?  Let us now see what is happening in India's mutual fund industry. In the first 11 months of 2023, fund assets soared by 19%. These gains were largely driven by mid and small-cap equity mutual funds, where the former category saw inflows worth over 36,000 crore rupees during the period. By comparison, the large-cap equity mutual fund category saw net outflow of about 2,700 crore rupees. But, as valuations turn frothy in the broader markets, will the large-cap MFs find their mojo back this year?  After the mutual funds, let us now turn our gaze to foreign affairs. Iran is now part of a free-trade zone spread across a vast Eurasian region. This trade pact is called Eurasian Economic Union and is being led by Russia. Listen to this episode of the podcast for answers. 

Eurasian Economic Union moves closer to BRICS

President Xi Jinping underlined China's readiness to enable a higher and deeper level of regional cooperation between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.The two leaders met shortly after the conclusion of the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. It marked the 43rd meeting between the two leaders since 2013; their last meeting was held in March, when Xi made his ninth visit to Russia.Xi started the conversation by calling Putin "my old friend", saying that Putin's attendance at the Belt and Road Forum for the third time in a row demonstrated Russia's support for the initiative."Our political mutual trust is deepening, our strategic cooperation is close and effective, and our bilateral trade volume has reached a historic high, moving steadily toward the goal of $200 billion that we jointly set," he said.Meanwhile, major infrastructure projects, including the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline, have been put into operation, delivering tangible benefits for people of the two nations, he said.Furthermore, the two leaders have also established "a good working relationship and a deep friendship" over the past decade, Xi noted.China hopes that the China-Mongolia-Russia natural gas pipeline project and cross-border tourism cooperation along the Great Tea Road will make substantive progress in an effort to develop the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor into a route of high-quality connectivity and development, Xi said.He emphasized that developing a China-Russia relationship featuring permanent good-neighborliness, comprehensive strategic coordination and win-win cooperation is a long-term commitment rather than a temporary fix.With both sides set to celebrate the 75th anniversary of bilateral ties next year, Xi emphasized Beijing's readiness to work with Moscow to accurately grasp the overall trend of history and continue substantiating cooperation based on the fundamental interests of both peoples.China supports the Russian people in pursuing a path of national rejuvenation based on their own choices and safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, the president said.He also highlighted the need for the two nations to promote high-quality development of bilateral pragmatic cooperation, actively explore cooperation in strategic emerging industries, and take the upcoming China-Russia Cultural Year as an opportunity to organize more cultural exchange activities.Xi expressed support to Russia in hosting a successful BRICS Summit next year and is willing to continue strengthening communication and cooperation with Russia within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and G20, he said.Addressing Xi as "my dear friend", Putin said the evolution of the international landscape fully vindicates Xi's strategic judgment that the world is facing major changes unseen in a century."We believe that your initiative to further promote the historical Silk Road traditions, which you proposed 10 years ago, has now become an internationally recognized public good," the Russian president said.Russia is willing to closely communicate and cooperate with China within multilateral mechanisms such as BRICS — the grouping of emerging economies that currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — and to uphold the international system based on international law and promote the establishment of a more just and equitable global governance system, he said.Putin reiterated Russia's adherence to the one-China principle, saying that Moscow firmly supports Beijing in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.Relations between China and Russia are built upon robust economic and trade cooperation, with bilateral trade hitting a record high of $190.27 billion in 2022, up 29.3 percent year-on-year, according to China's Foreign Ministry. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years. Reporter: Xu WeiEurasian Economic Unionn.欧亚经济联盟China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridorn.中蒙俄经济走廊BRICS Summitn.金砖国家峰会

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised foreign companies greater access to China's huge market and more than $100 billion in new financing for other developing economies as he opened a forum Wednesday on his signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Xi's initiative has built power plants, roads, railroads and ports around the world and deepened China's ties with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Mideast. But the massive loans backing the projects have burdened poorer countries with heavy debts, in some cases leading to China taking control of those assets. At the forum's opening ceremony at the ornate and cavernous Great Hall of the People, Xi promised that two Chinese-backed development banks – the China Development Bank and the Export–Import Bank of China – will each set up 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) financing windows. An additional 80 billion yuan ($11 billion) will be invested in Beijing's Silk Road Fund to support BRI projects. “We will comprehensively remove restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector,” Xi said. He said China would further open up “cross-border trade and investment in services and expand market access for digital products” and carry out reforms of state-owned enterprises and in sectors such as the digital economy, intellectual property rights and government procurement. The pledges of hefty support from Beijing come at a time when China's economy has slowed and foreign investment has plunged. Xi alluded to efforts by the United States and its allies to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturing and supply chains amid heightened competition and diplomatic frictions and reiterated promises that Beijing would create a fairer environment for foreign firms. “We do not engage in ideological confrontation, geopolitical games nor clique political confrontation,” Xi said. “We oppose unilateral sanctions, economic coercion and the decoupling and severance of chains,” a reference to moves elsewhere to diversify industrial supply chains. Reiterating Chinese complaints that such moves are meant to limit China's growth, Xi said that “viewing others' development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one's own life better or speed up one's development.” “China can only do well when the world is doing well,” he said. “When China does well, the world will get even better.” Representatives from more than 130 mostly developing countries are attending the forum, including at least 20 heads of state and government. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending, reflecting China's economic and diplomatic support for Moscow amid the isolation brought by its war in Ukraine. Addressing the forum right after Xi, Putin praised BRI as being “truly important, global, future-oriented, aimed at creating more equitable, multipolar world relations." “This is truly a global plan,” he said, adding that it aligns with Russia's plan “to form a large Eurasian space, as a space of cooperation and interaction of like-minded people, where a variety of integration processes will be linked.” He referred to other regional organizations, such as the security-oriented Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Eurasian Economic Union of former Soviet states. Several European officials including the French and Italian ambassadors to China and former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin walked out while Putin spoke and returned afterwards. On Tuesday, Putin met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is the sole European Union government leader attending the forum. Their meeting was a rare instance of the Russian president meeting a European leader since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022. Putin met with Xi after the opening ceremony. Also in attendance are the presidents of Indonesia, Argentina, Kazakstan, Sri Lanka, Kenya among other countries, as well as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. Most Western European countries and U.S. allies sent lower level or former officials to the forum. Guterres highlighted the BRI's potential to bring development to neglected areas while stressing the need for projects to be environmentally sustainable. He said the initiative could help drive the transition away from reliance on fossil fuels. “Developing countries will need massive support for a fair, equitable and just energy transition toward renewables while providing affordable electricity to all,” Guterres said. He also called for an “immediate, humanitarian” ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine war after a strike killed hundreds at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday. With the BRI, China has become a major financer of development projects on a par with the World Bank. The Chinese government says the initiative has launched more than 3,000 projects and “galvanized” nearly $1 trillion in investment. It has also attracted criticism from the U.S., India and others that China is engaging in “debt trap” diplomacy: Making loans Beijing knew governments would likely default on, enabling Chinese interests to take control of the assets. An oft-cited example is a port that the Sri Lankan government ended up leasing to a Chinese company for 99 years. Many economists say China did not make the bad loans intentionally. A key concern is whether the BRI can become more sustainable in terms of debt burdens, said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. The initiative now aims to become smaller and greener after a decade of big projects that boosted trade but left big debts and raised environmental concerns. China will also “monitor the debt sustainability of BRI countries more closely,” Christoph Nedopil, director of the Asia Institute at Griffith University in Australia, wrote in a report. “Chinese financial institutions will likely limit their exposure to projects that do not have stable cash flows from within the project,” he added. “That being said, ‘beautiful' strategic projects, such as strategic railways or ports, will still find Chinese financial creditors.” - by Simina Mistreanu, APSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China has proposed scaling up local currency settlement among member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, expanding cooperation on sovereign digital currency, and promoting the establishment of a development bank within the organization.President Xi Jinping made the proposals on Tuesday when addressing the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO via videoconference in Beijing. He also called on SCO member states to keep to the right direction of economic globalization, uphold solidarity and cooperation and enhance mutual trust.India, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the regional organization, hosted the annual SCO Summit in a virtual format.Iran was accepted as a full member of the SCO during the summit, becoming the ninth member in addition to China, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and India. Belarus signed a memorandum of obligations on joining the SCO.While addressing the summit, Xi also called on the SCO countries to keep in mind the overall and long-term interests of the region, and make foreign policies independently."We must be highly vigilant against external attempts to foment a new Cold War or camp-based confrontation in our region. We must resolutely reject any interference in our internal affairs and the instigation of 'color revolutions' by any country under whatever pretext," he said.While calling for joint efforts to uphold peace and safeguard common security, Xi underlined the need to advance pragmatic cooperation to expedite economic recovery.China stands ready to work with all parties to implement the Global Security Initiative, promote the settlement of international disputes through dialogue and consultation, and encourage political settlement of international and regional hot spots, in order to forge a solid security shield in the region, he said.Xi also underlined the need for SCO member states to oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and the overstretching of national security, and reject moves to set up barriers, decouple or disrupt supply chains.He said that China is ready to work with all parties to implement the Global Development Initiative to make the "pie of win-win cooperation bigger and ensure that more development gains will be shared more fairly by people across the world".The Chinese president called for enhancing the connection of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with the development strategies of various countries as well as regional cooperation initiatives."We should further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, speed up the development of port infrastructure and regional and international logistics corridors, and ensure stable and smooth functioning of regional industrial and supply chains," he said.Xi also stressed the importance of strengthening people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning and the harmonious development of different civilizations, and he welcomed all countries to work together to implement the Global Civilization Initiative."We should practice multilateralism and improve global governance. ... We should make global governance more just and equitable, and advance modernization of the entire humanity through collective efforts to promote equal rights, equal opportunities and fair rules for all," he said."We should support more SCO engagements with observer states, dialogue partners and other regional and international organizations such as the UN, and jointly promote world peace, drive global development and safeguard the international order."The leaders of the member states signed and issued the New Delhi Declaration of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, and jointly released a statement on cooperation in countering extremism and a statement on cooperation in the field of digital transformation.They also approved a series of resolutions, including the SCO economic development strategy through 2030.It was decided at the meeting that Kazakhstan will next assume the rotating presidency of the SCO.Leaders of the SCO member states spoke positively about the remarkable achievements made in the development of the regional organization. They also pledged to enhance cooperation in a wide range of fields, including strengthening the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Eurasian Economic Union.Solidarity英/ˌsɒlɪˈdærəti/ 美/ˌsɑːlɪˈdærəti/n.团结一致Globalization英/ˌɡləʊbəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/ 美/ˌɡloʊbələˈzeɪʃn/n.全球化

Far West Ltd., private military companies, PMCs, World Anti-Communist League, WACL, Ukraine, Russian Federation, shift of world trade from Atlantic to Eurasia, Russia as key to Eurasia, historic Silk Road, modern Silk Road, Belt and Road Initiative, Anglo-American Establishment, neo-liberalism, BRICS, energy/oil politics, pipelines, NATO, Boris Yeltsin, Yeltsin's "Family," Putin's rise, Mikhail Kasyanov, Bush II Administration, Dick Cheney, Halliburton, Exxon, US-Afghan War, Bagram Airfield, drug trafficking, Aleksandr Voloshin, Alfa Bank, Russiagate, Gazprom, Yukos, Yukos scandal, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Victims for Communism Memorial Foundation, Captive Nations, Lev Dobriansky, OUN-B, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Banderites, OUN-M, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Melnyk, "velvet coup"/"soft coup"/"color revolution," Gene Sharp, Albert Einstein Institute, National Endowment for Democracy, Reaganism, Freedom House, George Soros, Open Society Foundation, Peter Ackerman, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Michael Milken, Leon Black, Donald Trump, Brexit, Otpor!, Serbia, Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies, Eurasian Economic Union, Belarus, Georgia, Rose Revolution, Mikhail Saakashvili, Leonid Kuchma, General Nicholas Krawciw, Krawciw's background, Krawciw's reformation of Ukraine's military, Viktor Yushchenko, Orange Revolution, Far West's role in Orange RevolutionMusic by Keith Allen Dennis:https://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the Belt and Road Initiative drives an economically vibrant Eurasian region while delivering increasing benefits to the world, President Xi Jinping has urged stronger synergy between the initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union to boost Asia-Europe cooperation.While addressing the opening ceremony of the plenary session of the second Eurasian Economic Forum of the Eurasian Economic Union via video link late on Wednesday, Xi reiterated that the ultimate goal of the BRI is to "explore new ways for countries from near and far to achieve common development and to open up a path of happiness that benefits the whole world".The forum was held in offline and online formats in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, with the theme "Eurasian Integration in a Multipolar World". The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization of regional economic integration whose members are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan — all of which are partners of China under the BRI framework.Xi said that in a turbulent and changing world, proceeding with Asia-Europe cooperation concerns not only the well-being of people in the Eurasian region, but also will have a profound impact on global development.The development of China, a member of the Eurasian family, cannot be achieved without the Eurasian region, which also will benefit from the development, he added.Xi expressed his hope that the synergy between the BRI and the Eurasian Economic Union will be deepened, and that all countries will work together with unity and dedication to open up new prospects for Asia-Europe cooperation.This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BRI. China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in the second half of the year.Xi said that China is ready to work with participating countries, including the members of the Eurasian Economic Union, to continue to hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, share opportunities and overcome difficulties in trying times to have a better future, and join hands to write a new chapter in the progress of civilizations in a multipolar world.Guided by the principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the BRI has deepened mutually beneficial cooperation with participating countries, becoming a global public good and international cooperation platform.Since the initiative was proposed in 2013, over 3,000 cooperation projects have been launched, involving nearly $1 trillion of investment, according to the Foreign Ministry. Many nations have thus realized their dreams of railways, bridges and other infrastructure as well as poverty alleviation.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news conference on Wednesday that "to date, over three-quarters of countries around the world have joined this initiative, which has generated 420,000 jobs in these countries and helped more and more countries speed up economic growth. All those fruitful outcomes fully indicate that the BRI is a pathway to common development."We believe that the advancement of high-quality BRI cooperation will create more opportunities for the common prosperity of countries," Mao added.Kirill Babaev, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of China and Modern Asia, said that the BRI has promoted the development of infrastructure in the Eurasian region, bolstered the construction of transportation and logistics corridors and facilitated trade and investment, enhancing Eurasian economic integration.Noting that China's economy has enormous potential for further growth and that it actively invests in emerging markets and develops economic projects outside China, Babaev said that given the strong economic complementarity of Russia and China, strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation will benefit the peoples of both countries.Eurasian英/juˈreɪʒn; juˈreɪʃn/ 美/juˈreɪʒn/adj.欧亚的Multipolar英/ˌmʌltɪˈpəʊlə(r)/ 美/ˌmʌltəˈpoʊlər/adj.多极的

Chinese President Xi Jinping has addressed the opening ceremony of the plenary session of the second Eurasian Economic Forum of the Eurasian Economic Union.

President Xi Jinping reiterated on Wednesday China's readiness to work with Russia to support each other on issues concerning core interests, and he called for enhancing all-around bilateral cooperation between the two countries.Xi made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who made an official visit to China on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of Premier Li Qiang.Xi asked Mishustin to convey his sincere greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he recalled his successful state visit to Russia in March, when the two presidents outlined a blueprint for the development of China-Russia relations and bilateral cooperation in various fields.Consolidating and developing China-Russia relations is not only the shared aspiration of the two peoples, but also the overarching trend of the times, Xi said.He emphasized that China is willing to work with Russia to firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests, and to strengthen mutual coordination within multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS and the G20.Both sides should continue to tap the potential for economic partnership, consolidate and expand fundamentals of cooperation in the fields of energy and mutual connectivity, and create more growth points, he added.China is willing to work with Russia and other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union to boost the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, advance the building of a more open regional market, and ensure stable and unimpeded global industrial and supply chains, Xi said.Trade between China and Russia hit a record high of $190.27 billion in 2022. Between January and April, bilateral trade exceeded $73.1 billion, up 41.3 percent over the same period of last year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.Furthermore, energy cooperation continues to be a major stabilizer for the bilateral ties.During the meeting, Mishustin conveyed Putin's warm greetings and best wishes to Xi, saying that Xi's historic state visit to Russia in March opened a new era of the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.Russia is willing to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, fully utilize the regular meetings between the two prime ministers and relevant cooperation mechanisms, and deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, he said.The prime minister added that Russia stands ready to work with China to promote the multipolarization of the world and consolidate the international order based on international law.Premier Li gave Mishustin a grand welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday before they held official talks. They also witnessed the signing of an array of cooperation documents.Noting that strong resilience, great potential and broad prospects remain in pragmatic cooperation between the two countries, Li said that China is willing to work with Russia to optimize the trade structure, further enrich trade categories, expand cooperation in the fields of agricultural service trade and digital economy, facilitate trade and businesses, and improve customs clearance efficiency.Li called for strengthening subnational cooperation, promoting people-to-people exchanges, and expanding collaboration in such fields as education, science and technology, culture, tourism, sports and health.Mishustin hailed the fruitful cooperation between the two countries, saying that the Russia-China relationship enjoys special, exemplary significance in international relations.Against the backdrop of the turbulent international situation, Russia is willing to work with China to effectively respond to the new challenges faced by both countries, Mishustin said.Reporter: Cao Desheng

SUMMARY KEYWORDSukraine, war, people, ukrainian, asu, research, students, education, happening, invasion, qualitative research, february, questions, crimea, russia, universities, fled, podcast, family, momentSPEAKERSTim, MariiaTim  00:15Hello and welcome to qualitative conversations, a podcast hosted by the qualitative research SIG through AERA, the American Education Research Association. I am Tim wells, a postdoctoral research scholar at Arizona State University and guest host for this episode of the podcast. The qualitative conversations podcast doesn't have a regular host. Instead, each episode is organized by our podcast committee. Normally, my role resides in the background coordinating episodes and editing audio, but today I'm behind the mic. In conversation with Mariia Vitrukh. Mariia is a doctoral candidate in the Education Policy and Evaluation Program at Arizona State University. She serves on the QR sig's graduate student committee. In the fall of 2021, Mariia had been in conversation with myself about an episode she had hoped to record for the podcast. That podcast episode was never recorded. This is because only a few months later, on February 24 of 2022, Russia made a full scale invasion into Ukraine taking over 20% of the territory of Ukraine. Over the past few months. Maria is Ukrainian, writing her dissertation on learning experiences of Ukrainian students who moved from war areas in Ukraine and continue education in the context of forced migration. For the past year, she had been living in Ukraine, she left only a month before the invasion to teach courses at ASU and finish her dissertation proposal. The country she left has changed forever. But this hasn't stopped her from returning. I don't think that's yet research to complete. But all of our family remains in Ukraine. So instead of the original podcast that we planned in the fall of 2021, I invited Mariia to the podcast to share her experience of researching and being a doctoral student, in candidate and in times of war. Mariia, I can't thank you enough for your willingness to be on this program. Perhaps we could start with you sharing a bit more about your background for the listeners, what brought you to ASU's doctoral program. And what were you doing beforehand?Mariia  02:41Tim, thank you so much for the invitation. I really appreciate the opportunity not only to share my experience as a student, but also to talk about the ones in Ukraine.Tim  02:53So what brought you to ASU doctoral program.Mariia  02:57So, after I did my second master's degree at the University of Cambridge, in psychology and education road, I went back to Ukraine and storage, or co founded an NGO Ukrainian Educational Research Association. We did a couple of projects on education in Ukraine. And as a member of the organization I applied for grant was the US State Department. And I collaborated with displaced universities in Ukraine. And those are the universities that moved from Eastern world areas of the country. I worked with them for about three years on the project, doing workshops, and preparing conferences, interviewing people. And I think this collaboration kind of pushed me to think what can I do more to speak about the stories and share the stories of those people, and especially students, and how to say that I was really impressed with what they shared with me. And I think inspired by their example, even though their stories were not the easy ones. And this kind of inspire me to look for PhD programs. So I applied to ASU because it offered an interdisciplinary approach and had a variety of methods to look into the ongoing problems. So I thought that that's a place that where I can find a way to explore not an easy topic of war and how to research war, especially education in the context of war.Tim  04:35Yeah, thanks. That's just a little bit of background that I think might help orient the listeners to this episode and kind of your own deep knowledge and experience in Ukraine and in how this connects maybe to your own research and really builds off some of that background. So perhaps we could start with you telling us what are you doing in February of this year when the war ramped up?Mariia  05:05So I've just finished my perspectives de France. And I was planning to go back to Ukraine in March, but then to do my data collection, but then all the flights have been canceled due to the full scale invasion. Yeah, so I think that was the moment where I had to make quiet, hard decisions first, do I continue with my dissertation? Then if I do, then how do I continue? And there were a lot of personal issues as well as research questions, ethical considerations. Yeah, so had to resolve a lot of those factors.Tim  05:54I can actually remember sitting down with you early in the winter of 2022. Before the, the the invasion, and we had a conversation. And I think, some, I guess, what struck me and what I still remember about that, as you were situating, lots of the events that were kind of unfolding because this was a time when Russia had started to militarize the border, and they kind of brought this big presence of military forces right around the border. And I was just kind of asking you about this. And what you did really nicely is situate this historically, you provided some context and things. And of course, this isn't a History podcast, but maybe you can give some background about the background and history of the war. And maybe share a little bit about what happened in 2014, and how that might connect in some ways to 2020.Mariia  06:53So although there is a very common discourse, saying that the vast and by West people usually refer to the United States and NATO, saying that they put too much pressure on Russian presidents, and it caused a triggered the war. But I think it the tension began much earlier between Ukraine and Russia back in 2010, when victory and a college, very pro Russian president came to power in 2016 Ukrainian government's decision to suspend the signing of an Association Agreement with the European Union, and choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union sparked progress among the Ukrainian people. The scope of progress widened, with calls for the resignation of President victory on a college and the garment. The protests later Friday expanded into Ramadan and the Revolution of Dignity. A year later in 2014, protesters eventually occupied a government buildings in many regions of Ukraine. The uprising climaxed on 18th 20th of February 2014 and fierce fighting and cave between Milan activists and pleas resulted in deaths of almost 100 protesters and 13 police officers present in college and other government ministers fled the country to Russia. And just a week later, the so called little green man, as they were famously named in media appeared in Crimea in unmarked green army uniforms, carrying modern Russian military weapons and equipment. They took over control of strategic positions in Crimea and set Russian flags. Later in April 2014. Large parts of the Knights can Luhansk regions were seized by pro Russian terrorists backed by a Russian military since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014. With the annexation of Crimea and invasion into Donbass, which are Donetsk and Luhansk region by Russia, Ukraine has become one of the countries with the highest number of internally displaced people worldwide. And these numbers can be compared to countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. And by the summer of 2014, the Ukrainian ministry for social policy had already registered close to 2 million internally displaced people, and an estimated 1 million people have fled from war zone to the Russian Federation. In terms of education, from the scarce resources available, it is known that at the beginning of the conflict about back in 2014, about 700 educational institutions suffered both higher education and school level education at the higher level education about 700,000 students and teachers for more More than three and a half 1000 educational institutions experienced psychological difficulties due to military conflict in obtaining education. And students consider about 30% of those affected by war. After the 24th of February 2022, after the full scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, over 1000, educational institutions have suffered bombing and shelling, and about 100 of them have been destroyed completely. And these numbers are continuously increasing. almost 10 million Ukrainian refugees have fled Ukraine since this escalation. And another 7 million more have been displaced internally within Ukraine, and over 12 million have been affected in the areas hardest hit by the war. And also how to remember that throughout over 7.5 million children that now are considered Children of War, and not to mention that the humanitarian needs are constantly increasing.Tim  11:10Yeah, thanks. So what's really clear, I think in talking with you, around this is that these events are part of a much larger, longer history that extends beyond February of this year in in dates much prior to that. But maybe you can tell us, if you're open to sharing a little bit about how you've experienced the changes of the war, the escalation within since this last year, and especially maybe how you've experienced this as a doc student doing research and qualitative research.Mariia  11:52Um, I think I made quite a few interesting discoveries for me both as a researcher and a human being and Ukrainian citizen, is that it's a very non translatable experience. So you can't really explain this to someone who hasn't been through similar events. Also, the news don't really reflect what is happening day by day process. After the full invasion, I had to make a decision on whether I continue with my dissertation, because the first instinct was just to pack my luggage and go back to Ukraine. And I wanted to help in some way I just didn't know how to help. I was waking up every morning with Assad if my parents are still alive. So I was sending them text messages to check in on them. And following the news constantly to make sure that the city they were in was not bombed. Also checking on my friends and their location. And I think just very recently, maybe a few weeks ago, my sister shirts that Monday, she actually saw a missile missile flying over her head. And I think that felt very surreal, because she saw that it was so close that you could literally see it. And actually, what she shared is that the moment the bomb is like about your head flying in the air, you can't really hide anymore, because it moves so quickly, that you don't really have enough time to hide. And my mom actually turned out that she saw the missile was acquired a few times, but she never told me about this. I know that my family does not tell me even half of what they're going through. And that's on the one hand, it's disturbing. On the other hand, I kind of understand that. I think another difficult aspect is that your family and France are constantly under the threat. And the first few days, of course, were a shock. I remember when I called my parents at 7am in the morning, cave time on the 24th of February. And I told them, like because they saw on the news already that the key was bombed two hours earlier, so and they were still asleep. My father saw that that's a fake news that that's not true. And I think it was true for most of my friends and people in Ukraine. And so the bombing starts at 5am. In cave time, and I think that's the most mean time to start a war because it's before the dawn. And at times, it's hard to process what is happening, especially if you're not fully awake. And some of my friends were in queue at that time. So they try to flee the city. Or normally it takes about five to six hours to get out of this key of to the most western city. And one of my friends heard that it took her about 12 hours. And it's only because she left immediately after the bombing started. Those who tried to flee like just a few hours later. If it either took them over 24 hours or even more, or they were forced to return home just because of the traffic chance, no gas, and the panic that was in the city. Also, like even now, people have to constantly be a large. They hear the sirens literally every day they have to hide in basements on some safe, safe space in their homes. It does influence children a lot, especially their education and schooling, because a lot of schools have been turned into refugee shelters, which means that in many cities and rural areas, there is no physically space to study and most of the education is done online. I guess the word is not the same throughout the time. So the first few days and weeks were the most uncertain. It is changing over time, because you learn to process things differently. It doesn't get easier, you just I think start to navigate the context of war better. At the moment, I think it's the most like drastic things is that a lot of people are dying, both civilians and soldiers. Also, the price for food is increasing constantly. Some cities just don't have access to food, water, electricity, mobile connection or internet connection. So that's that's what concerns the more like a personal explorations and discoveries I made for myself. When it comes to research, I think that the questions I was asking myself, because I was supposed to work with displaced universities and students from displaced universities. So I wondered, like how to do research with people who are under constant physical threat or whose family is under physical threat, when the cities are being shelled, and you yourself are going through this experience, or your family members, your friends are hiding in basements and trying to survive. Is it even ethical to do this type of research? Also, I know that, especially the first two weeks, people were in shock, they were panicking, there was a lot of uncertainty. A lot of people didn't know where to go and what to do. And also, like, how do you talk to people who lost their homes. So I knew that some of the students I'm may potentially be interviewing will go through the second displacement. So the first displacement was in 2014, when they lost their homes, and they had to leave the occupied territories, territories that were under war. And then in February 2022, they were going through the second displacement, losing their homes with a second time having to leave their education space for the second time, having their group mates and professors killed or injured, as well as their family members. And of course, there were like technical issues. And I just couldn't travel to Ukraine that easily. And my methods that I was using, because I'm using Artspace methodologies and somatic practices required on site participation. So this man that I need to meet with students in person, and I kind of wondered, how do we solve this issue? Yeah,Tim  18:31I'm actually just following up and curious. So how did you solve that issue? Were you able to meet with people in person? And have you conducted that type of research since?Mariia  18:45Yeah, I think that my volunteering and advocacy work actually helped me with that. Because when I started doing some volunteering at Arizona State University, I met some of the students who were from this place to universities. And through personal networking and social service. I got connected to a group of students who was in a different country. And I was very lucky to get a grant from gpsa. And travel all the way there and work with them.Tim  19:28This was after the invasion, correct?Mariia  19:30Yeah, it was actually end of April, beginning of May. And that was something completely found plans because so I thought that most probably I will have either to change the methods, change the population. Stop doing my research completely because I didn't see how it's relevant anymore because the history took a very unexpected turn, which meant that the research I wrote just half a year ago was not relevant anymore. It became a part of history. So it was not what was happening, the universities I was describing. Most of them don't exist anymore, or they had to relocate again. So when I was talking about the second relocation for people, the same thing happened for the institutions. And when I reached out professors from displaced universities, most of them told me like, we don't know what's going to happen next. We didn't know where our students are, we didn't know where most of our colleagues are. So it's very unpredictable what is going to happen next.Tim  20:36And that's part of well, in partly in response to that, you've also, that's you've been doing your advocacy, you started advocacy work? How have you thought about your advocacy work as related or connected in any way to your research? I know you said, partly through that work, you got funded through the Student Association at it at ASU to travel to the Ukraine correct. And do research.Mariia  21:05Oh, it actually was not Ukraine, I just don't want to name the country because I'm going to expose the students. I traveled to Europe to do my data collection. I think at that moment, I didn't think about advocacy, as connected to my research at all, I just had a feeling. I think there are two things First, for those Ukrainians who are outside of Ukraine, all of us feel the sense of guilt, that you are in safe conditions, and you survived. And you don't have to go through what most people are going through in Ukraine, and at times, it gets feel unbearable. And I think it's to somehow cope with a sense of guilt, and guilt of Survivor, I think you try to do something to contribute and help. So what I was trying to do was to get together those students who were at ASU into one group and organization and see what we can together do. And that's when I started meeting people. And I also had to collaborate more on meet some people from the Aspera, Ukraine people from the Aspera. And that's when I had a chance to go and talk about issues that Ukrainian students face here at ASU and had a chance to talk about was governor of Arizona juicy and as well as ASU representatives, as well as IRC and migration office asking for help both for Ukrainian students and Ukrainian refugees. Also gave interviews to local media. And I gave talks at the conferences just sharing information or what was happening at that time in Ukraine. But it was not there was not really like a goal to connect it to my research. Rather, it was like feel of responsibility to somehow do something or help in any way I could.Tim  23:14Write Of course. So I guess I'm Yes. still curious about research and what this process is looking like in in times of war in the middle of war and how this is, so much of qualitative research is about relationships, relationships that you form and maintain. But it's also about ethical considerations. And you're kind of in the midst of all of that, how have you navigated some of that? Both relationships, ethics, the concerns that you might have have around conduct both conducting research around a topic that's at the very least adjacent and likely very relevant to the experiences of people in war, forced migration. And then, at the same time, in this context, where so much turmoil and wars going on, I'm curious, a little bit of how you think about those and how you've experienced the research work during this time.Mariia  24:24I think it was not a straightforward way. And I had a lot of hesitations how and if I should continue with my research, I mean, was my dissertation. But I think working with students at ASU actually helped me because it showed where the needs are and how can I address some of the ethical issues. And in terms of building relationship, my key question was, I didn't want to re traumatize students, I will be potentially interviewing Just asking the question that may not be appropriate in that moment. So I consulted with psychologists from Ukraine that were working with refugees in Ukraine, like what is the best way to approach if it makes sense to do this research at all? And the response that I got is that, in that particular moment, people, most people feel happy that they survived. And they do want to talk they key consideration was that I do not tell them what to do, I do not tell them how to act, how to send have to feel, etc. So if I'm there to listen, and ask some questions, then have to be respectful and empathetic about their views and beliefs. And from my experience, back in 2017, when people shared although it was in retrospect, so the people I was working with back in 2016 2017, it's been already three years since the war hit for them. And one thing they shared with me is that the most traumatic experience for them was when someone would come with curious questions and observations, and would show little or no empathy. So I think I took made a note for myself and thought that if I'm there to ask questions, I have to be prepared to listen. And I realized that most of the time, it's not going to be an easy. And another aspect was that I realized that I have to be honest about my intentions for the research and the project I'm doing. And of course, confidentiality matters a lot, because for a lot of my participants, I realized they are still in Ukraine and their family members may be in danger. And also, another aspect I kind of anticipated is that the most interesting conversations are going to happen off record. And this man's that they would have to remain of records. And even though it could be tempting to use those for the project, or for the research, I realized that I mean, this is something that is shared of records, so it stays of records. Some other ethical considerations were that for most people, as it was, for me, it tends, it's hard to navigate what is happening and find, find the words to express what you're going through. So it gets easier in retrospect, that's what I've noticed, with my previous research, but it's hard. It's harder in the moment. So I had to be aware of that. Also, different people process words differently. And there are many factors for that. A lot depends on the location of the family, their economic situation, that pre will previous beliefs, experiences, involvement in the war, and how much their family members are involved. Also, the distance and safety, very often hardly an indicator indicators about how person feels because, like, as I said, like sense of guilt. And also times even helplessness can be present, even for those who are outside of the country and are relatively safe. So I realized that when I will be interviewing my participants, I have to be always aware of that. And I think also how you ask questions matter, because if you're just picking people's brain, you see what they're going through and like trying to satisfy your curiosity, this could be a very traumatic approach. And you have to be constantly aware that that these people are continuously going through the war, even though they may themselves not be in the middle of it, but their family members most probably are their friends are. And it immediately puts them in this, like continuous processing, or continuous influence. So I think these were like my key explorations. And yeah, and while trying to navigate and I think I'm still trying to navigate how to how to approach it. I don't think that that's the process that is over for me.Tim  29:36Yeah, of course, that makes a lot of sense. In so much is still changing. And yeah, the war evolves and continues to evolve. And what's interesting or what's concerning, I think, is that we're now creeping up on six or seven months into the war. And personally, I send It's there's just a waning of interest and it starts to get lose its front page headline status. And but so as we close out the conversation I kind of on that note, but also, I'm curious what you could share or what you would share to listeners, what else you would share to listeners, as yet we hit you know this half, half of the year moment in likely this will be a conflict and war that continues. But what else would you share with whether the listenersMariia  30:39so I'm not surprised that Ukraine disappeared from the headlines. Talking about war and listening in World War on daily basis is exhausting, I think to be in the context of war is even more so. But I don't think that this is an indicator that people don't care anymore. It's just you can't be focused on world the time. In Trump's of the case of Ukraine, I believe that it opened an interesting historical consciousness. And I remember that at the very beginning on the 24th of February, the whole world was giving Ukraine about 2072 hours, and trying to predict what's going to happen next. And I think that Ukrainians refuse this bit of realization that they may lose their homeland, and they were fighting back. And we are still fighting back. Even though the whole world bugs and was waiting for Ukraine to be taking over. I think that Ukrainian population showed incredible resistance and love for their homelands. And I have no doubt that we are going to win this war, and we are going to take our lands back.Tim  31:57On that note, thank you so much for your willingness to share about your experience, the war, and also your experience conducting war research in the midst of this war. And also thanks for your service in the qualitative research SIG, so I really appreciate it. And it was great having a conversation with you.Mariia  32:18Yeah, thank you so much for inviting me. I really appreciate this time and I appreciate listeners time to even explore this topic. So thank you

The eastern world continues moving against western world commodity price discovery market systems, as Russia plans a new gold price and silver price discovery alliance proposing its own international standard of precious metals exchange, dubbed the “Moscow World Standard” (MWS).  The MWS would have Eurasian Economic Union partner nations such as Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. It aims to add major gold and physical precious metals trading nations like India, China, Peru, Venezuela, and other countries in both South America and Africa where precious metals are mined. Moscow has decades of western vs eastern precious metals price data, and can also easily deduce that for decades running the London Bullion Market Association or LBMA system has allowed precious metals values to be artificially kept low. Moscow understandably believes the LBMA runs an unfair practice of precious metals price discovery that negatively affects precious metal exporters.

GUEST OVERVIEW: Ambassador Dimitry Polanskiy has been First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN since February 2018. In 1994 he joined the Russian Foreign Ministry. He's worked in Russian embassies in Tunisia, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Slovenia. Since 1999 ambassador Polanskiy was dealing with EU economic matters, spent 3 years in Russian Mission to the EU in Brussels and was Head of EU unit in Russian MFA. From 2008-2011 was he was the Deputy Ambassador to Poland, from 2011 until January 2016 - Deputy Director, First Department of CIS Countries. Polanskiy dealt with Eurasian economic integration, matters related to the Eurasian Economic Union, functioning of the Customs Union and Single Economic space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan within WTO framework. Ambassador Polanskiy is fluent in English, French, German, Polish and Arabic. Has diplomatic rank of Plenipotentiary Envoy. Member of the board of the Russian Council for Foreign Relations (SVOP).

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words https://tinyurl.com/ybmuxgdq Contact: irishlingos@gmail.com Anti-war protest in Russia. Agóid frith-chogaidh ar bun sa Rúis. One of the news programs on the Russian television station, 'TV ChannelOne', was interrupted by a protest by anti - war activists in Ukraine. Cuireadh isteach ar cheann de na cláracha nuachta ar an stáisiún teilifíse Rúiseach,'TV ChannelOne' a bhuíochas d'agóid a bhí ar bun ag dream atá in aghaidh na cogaíochta san Úcráin. A sign they had hung up and written in English and Russian said that such a war should not take place, that it should be stopped. Dúradh ar chomhartha a bhí crochta in airde acu agus scríofa i mBéarla agus i Rúisis nár cheart a léithid de chogadh a bheith ann,gur cheart é a stopadh. The Russian public has also been told not to give in to what they say is Russian 'propaganda'. Iarradh freisin ar phobal na Rúise gan géilleadh do 'bholscaireacht' na Rúise mar a deir siad. Protesters said the Kremlin government was clearly 'telling lies to the public' about this war. Dúirt an lucht agóide gur léir go bhfuil an Rialtas sa Kremlin 'ag insint bhréaga don phobal' maidir leis an chogadh seo. This afternoon, the Prime Minister of Russia signed a decree on any export of white and crude sugar from now until 31 August. Tráthnóna inniu, shínigh Príomh-Aire na Rúise foraithne ar aon easportáil de shiúcra bán agus amh-shiúcra as seo go dtí an 31ú Lúnasa. Russia will also not sell the said wheat, rye, barley or maize to states in the Eurasian Economic Union. Ní dhíolfaidh an Rúis ach oiread a dúradh aon chruithneacht,seagal,eorna ná grán buí le stáit atá in Aontas Eacnamíochta na hEoráise. That ban will remain in effect until the said June 30th. Fanfaidh an cosc sin i bhfeidhm a dúradh go dtí an 30Meitheamh.

Christian Gomez examines the role of Russia's Communist Party and how Russian President Vladimir Putin is following their playbook with regard to Ukraine in order to rebuild the Soviet Union, via a new “Eurasian Economic Union.” Share this episode of “Anarchy & America” to help expose the communist and globalist's long-range plans to establish a socialist one world government. Purchase a paperback copy of New Lies for Old by Soviet defector Anatoliy Golitsyn at ShopJBS: https://shopjbs.org/product/new-lies-for-old/ Take Action: 1. Educate others by sharing this episode of “Anarchy & America” to help expose the Eurasian Economic Union 2. Buy and read a copy of New Lies for Old at ShopJBS 3. Organize through membership in The John Birch Society​ 

In mid-November, Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade (Minpromtorg) published a draft decision that would give Russian drug manufacturers a leg up in public procurement. The proposal would ensure that drugs produced in the Eurasian Economic Union at all stages of manufacturing would be favored in public procurement auctions, automatically beating out international competition. To test drive this initiative, Minpromtorg has proposed a pilot project involving 15 drugs used to treat HIV, cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis. But NGOs warn that the proposed procurement rule could lead to shortages of vital medications. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/12/13/eaeu-first

In EVN Report's news roundup for the week of November 19: Azerbaijan launches a large-scale offensive on Armenia's eastern border leading to intense battles; a Russian-brokered ceasefire comes into effect five hours later; one day before the Azerbaijani attack, PM Nikol Pashinyan sacks Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan; the 29th Eurasian Intergovernmental Session of the Eurasian Economic Union kicks off in Yerevan and more.

In EVN Report's news roundup for the week of November 19: Azerbaijan launches a large-scale offensive on Armenia's eastern border leading to intense battles; a Russian-brokered ceasefire comes into effect five hours later; one day before the Azerbaijani attack, PM Nikol Pashinyan sacks Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan; the 29th Eurasian Intergovernmental Session of the Eurasian Economic Union kicks off in Yerevan and more. The post Ep. 164: The Week in Review (19.11.21) appeared first on EVN Report.

We are in the process of regime changing Belarus. In this episode, I prove it. Executive Producer: Nich Secord Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Episodes CD225: Targets of the Free Marketeers CD206: Impeachment: The Evidence CD190: A Coup for Capitalism CD176: Target Venezuela: Regime Change in Progress CD102: The World Trade Organization: COOL? CD068: Ukraine Aid Bill CD067: What Do We Want In Ukraine? Bills Omnibus 2021 Outline Bill Text DIVISION FF - OTHER MATTERS TITLE III - FOREIGN RELATIONS AND DEPARTMENT OF STATE PROVISIONS SUBTITLE C - Support for Human Rights in Belarus Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 Sec. 322: Findings "Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus as an undemocratic dictatorship since the first presidential election in Belarus in 1994." "Subsequent presidential election in Belarus have been neither free nor fair..." In response to the 2006 presidential election, "Congress passed the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006" 2006: President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13405 which authorized sanctions 2011: Senate Resolution 105 condemned the December 2010 elections in Belarus as illegitimate Repeatedly says, "The Government of Belarus, led illegally by Alyaksandr Lukashenka..." Accuses the government of conducting flawed elections, retribution against protestors, the suppression of the media, "a systematic campaign of harassment, repression, and closure of nongovernmental organizations", and pursuit of policies that make Belarus "subservient" to Russia by integrating into a "so called 'Union State' that is under the control of Russia". Accuses the government of arresting journalists, activists, and "3 leading presidential candidates" ahead of the August 2020 election. Accuses the government of conducting a fraudulent election on August 9, 2020, which reelected Alyaksandr Lukashenka and says the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada refuse to recognize Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimate President of Belarus. The opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhaouskaya fled to Lithuania in the days following the election, and from Lithuania, she "announced the formation of a Coordination Council to oversee... a peaceful transition of power..." The government of Belarus is accused of arresting journalists, including six who report for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Alyaksandr Lukashenka has requested security assistance from Russia, which Russia has promised to provide Sec. 323: Statement of Policy "To continue rejecting the invalid results of the fraudulent August 9, 2020 presidential election in Belarus..." "To continue supporting calls for new presidential and parliamentary elections..." "To refuse to recognize Alyaksandr Lukashenka as the legitimately elected leader of Belarus" "To not recognize any incorporation of Belarus into a 'Union State' with Russia..." "To continue calling for the fulfillment by the Government of Belarus of Belarus's freely undertaken obligations as an OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) participating state and as a signatory of the Charter of the United Nations" "To recognize the Coordination Council as a legitimate institution to participate in a dialogue on a peaceful transition of power." "To impose targeted sanctions, in coordination with the European Union and other international partners..." Sec. 324: Assistance to Promote Democracy, Civil Society, and Sovereignty in Belarus Authorizes "Belarusian groups outside of Belarus" to receive assistance Authorizes assistance to be used for "enhancing the development of the private section, particularly the information technology sector, and its role in the economy of Belarus, including by increasing the capacity of private sector actors..." Authorizes "such sums as may be necessary" for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Sec. 325: International Broadcasting, Internet Freedom, and Access to Information in Belarus Gives the Biden administration's State Department 120 days to submit a strategy, with a cost estimate, for expanding radio, television, live stream, and social network broadcasting and communications in Belarus to provide news and information, to develop and deploy circumvention technologies to allow people in Belarus to communicate on the internet without interference from the government of Belarus, to monitor the cooperation between Belarus and other countries in regards to internet monitoring or censorship capabilities, and "build the capacity of civil society, media, and other nongovernmental organizations and organizations to identify, track, and counter disinformation." Part of this report can be classified Sec. 326: Sanctions Against the Government of Belarus Allows sanctions to be applied to "a member of any branch of the security or law enforcement services of Belarus...", or is "an official in the so-called 'Union State' between Russia and Belarus (regardless of nationality of the individual) and their family members. Articles/Documents Article: Institutional interest in bitcoin sets the latest bull run apart from 2017's retail-driven surge, Goldman's digital asset chief says, By Emily Graffeo, Business Insider, March 9, 2021 Article: The European Deterrence Initiative, By Candela FERNANDEZ GIL-DELGADO, Legal Researcher at Finabel – European Army Interoperability Centre, March 4, 2021 Article: Atlantic Council urges Biden to enforce regime change in Belarus, By Paul Antonopoulos, Aletho News, February 18, 2021 Press Release: Nominations Sent to the Senate, The White House, February 13, 2021 Article: Joe Biden’s Pick of Victoria Nuland Means Relations with Russia Could Get Worse, By Mark Episkopos, The National Interest, January 15, 2021 Article: Opinion: How Biden can undo damage to U.S.-backed news outlets that counter authoritarian propaganda, By Gregory Feifer, Slate, December 18, 2020 Article: Belarus Will Be an Early Challenge for Biden, By Jamie Fly, The Washington Post, December 24, 2020 Article: U.S. Senate Unanimously Approves Julie Fisher As New Ambassador To Minsk, BelarusFeed, December 17, 2020 Article: Opinion: The people of Belarus are still marching against dictatorship. The U.S. can help., By Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, The Washington Post, December 4, 2020 Statement: BELARUS – STATEMENT BY VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, Joe Biden, October 27, 2020 Statement: Public Companies Have Invested Billions in Bitcoin This Year, By Martin Young, CryptoPotato, October 14, 2020 Press Release: Treasury Sanctions Belarus Officials for Undermining Democracy, U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 2, 2020 Press Release: House Members Introduce Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2020 Article: What Exactly Is The Coordination Council And What Are Its Plans To Oust Belarus’s Leader?, By Tony Wesolowsky, RadioFreeEurope, RadioLiberty, August 25, 2020 Document: Belarus: An Overview, By Cory Welt, Congressional Research Service, August 24, 2020 Article: The U.S. Was Set to Send an Ambassador to Belarus. Then Came the Crackdown., Robbie Gramer and Amy Mackinnon, Foreign Policy, August 12, 2020 Document: EUROPEAN DETERRENCE INITIATIVE, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, February 2020 Article: The Union State of Russia and Belarus: Searching for a Development Vector, By Sergey Rekeda, moderndiplomacy, December 20, 2019 Article: Why economic reforms in Belarus are now more urgent than ever, By Alex Kremer, World Bank Blogs, June 26, 2019 Article: Yeltsin Shelled Russian Parliament 25 Years Ago, U.S. Praised “Superb Handling”, By Svetlana Savranskaya and Tom Blanton, National Security Archive, October 4, 2018 Document: Belarus: Background and U.S. Policy Concerns, By Steven Woehrel, Specialist in European Affairs, Congressional Research Service, February 12, 2013 Statement: Statement on the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, George W. Bush, Office of the Press Secretary, October 20, 2004 Document: Russia’s Economic and Political Transition: U.S. Assistance and Issues for Congress, By Curt Tarnoff, Specialist in Foreign Affairs, Congressional Research Service, May 5, 1999 Article: 1991: Hardliners stage coup against Gorbachev, BBC, August 19, 1991 Books The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein, September 2007 Additional Resources FY 2020 European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) Fact Sheet, U.S. European Command Public Affairs Office Coordination Council Leadership History: Since 1961 Atlantic Council Board of Directors, International Republican Institute Profile: Joanna Rohozinska, LinkedIn Visual References Sound Clip Sources Meeting: Biden and Belarus: A strategy for the new administration, Atlantic Council, January 27, 2021 Authors Dr. Anders Åslund, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, Melinda Haring, deputy director at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, Ambassador John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, and Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, join to present their key findings and ideas for the Biden administration. They are joined by Valery Kovaleuski, an adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to discuss the report. The event will be moderated by Eurasia Center Nonresident Fellow and Tsikhanouskaya adviser Hanna Liubakova. Watch on Youtube Speakers: Melinda Haring Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center Eurasia Foundation Freedom House National Democratic Institute Council on Foreign Relations John Herbst Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council 2003-2006: US Ambassador to Ukraine 2000-2003: US Ambassador to Uzbekistan - played a critical role in the establishment of an American base to help conduct Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan Former Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the New Independent States Dr. Anders Åslund Senior fellow at the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition Former Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Valery Kovaleuski Adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Transcript: 9:40 Melinda Haring: The problem, though, is that there's all kinds of limitations on moving money into Belarun. It's A, it's a security state, B, we have COVID. And people can't move in and out of the country very easily. So this has to be handled sensitively. The folks that I'm talking to say that cryptocurrencies are the way to do it, but there's a bigger problem. The US government is not very good at moving money. They are tied up in all kinds of reporting requirements. The European Union has the same issues. But we need to be more creative. If we don't think with some new creative energy. This protest movement is going to fizzle out. So it's time to go back to the drawing boards and talk to people who are good at moving money and make it happen now. 14:40 Dr. Anders Åslund: Lukashenko today has only reserves for about one month of imports normally said it should be for three months. And he has a$3 billion of cash he needs $6 billion more to carry, to cover this year. And traditionally there are two sources to get that. One is from the IMF and back is not available because the IMF is not prepared to deal with Lukashenko because he is normally cheating them. And they know that. And the other source is Russia. Putin declared when Lukashenko came to his knees to Putin in Sochi on the 14th of September, but he's ready to give one and a half billion dollars as loans. But, Lukashenko needs much more, and well to Putin hinted at it is that Russian private money can come in and buy the big companies, and the Belarusian economy is quite concentrated to a few big companies. So there are four big companies: two fertilizer plants and two oil refineries that account for two thirds of the Belarus's exports to the west. And then where do they get the raw material from? All the oil comes from Russia, and the gas for one of the fertilizer plants come from Russia. So the natural thing is that the Russian private businessmen by these Belarusian companies, we have seen it before. It has happened with gas assets in Belarus and half of one of the refineries is already bought by Russian companies. But where does the money come from? It comes from Russian state banks. So what Putin is essentially saying it is a couple of my most loyal oligarchs are allowed to get billions of dollars of Russian state bank financing in order to buy Belarusian companies cheaply, and that would completely tie up the Belarusian economy and this is what we have to avoid. 18:07 Valery Kovaleuski: Biden has expressed a lot of interest in the situation in Belarus, he showed himself as fairly well informed about the events in those. And he was very vocal in kind of demanding the action and kind of defining the policy of the United States government. At this stage, I think the most important than the sort of doses are waiting for very specific steps that will be tangible, and that will be impactful. And number one is fast reintroduction of economic sanctions. And you might know that the United States have has imposed the sanctions since long, but they were suspended when Russia invaded Ukraine and the United States and European Union decided to engage with those and normalize relations. And that was one of the steps that they made. They introduced the waiver to the sanctions and now they are in the the suspension state. The other one would be to continue not recognizing Lukashenka's legitimacy as he is not legitimate ruler of Belarus at the moment. Very important would be to start implementation of the those Democracy Human Rights and Sovereignty Act that was adopted just last year, and actually it was, it was adopted in a very kind of fast, fast pace in just three months since in introduction in the house. But the whole Act has as a kind of arsenal of tools and mechanisms to to influence the situation that was to influence, the behavior of Lukashenka. 21:46 John Herbst: The first is to promote the legitimacy of the opposition in Ms. Tsikhanouskaya and the delegitimization of Lukashenko. So, for example, our ambassador when she goes out, Julie Fisher, a wonderful diplomat, should not present credentials to Lukashenko, she should be spending most of our time in Vilnius near Ms. Tsikhanouskaya to wish to organize the US government to manage this crisis. So we should have a senior coordinator to manage sanctions against Lukashenko regime, and maybe against appropriate Russians, and also should have a senior official designated to manage assistance to the opposition and to the people of Belarus. And finally, this this combines both organization and resources, we should double the budget of RFP and RL. So we can get out our message to the people of Belarus. The third category is to increase specific support to the opposition. So for example, Melinda already mentioned the need to get resources to the opposition using cryptocurrency, we should also push to give legitimacy to the opposition. The fourth, the next element is to keep Russia out of the conflict. I mean, they're already in. We've seen what they've done by sending media experts, for example. But this this involves I say, a series of measures that have to be conducted simultaneously. One, we don't want to frighten Russians into thinking that Belarus is is now going to become part of the West. So we would encourage the opposition not to talk about NATO not to talk about the EU talk simply about the need for Belarus to choose its own president to work with the EU should be in dialogue with Moscow about the crisis in Belarus. But three, we should send a very clear signal to Moscow that if they intervene with their repressive opperatives, whether with their secret police, with their regular police with their military, to repress the people of Belarus, or to prop up Lukashenko or Lukashenko-like alternative, there will be serious sanctions against the Russian economy against Russian officials. 43:09 Melinda Haring: I think that Ukraine can definitely play a role here. And you know, there's a lot of Belarusians who are in Ukraine. One of the more interesting things I found in in my section of the report, I focused on the domestic picture, is where Belarusians have gone since August, so Belarusians have gone to give, they've got to Riga, they've got to Vilnius and they've gone to Warsaw. And they're creating massive civil society organizations that are helping people who had to leave quickly. And many of the people in Kiev are students so you can help students, you can, you can send a pizza, you can provide a house for them. You can do very basic things. 55:09 Dr. Anders Åslund: The aim of the sanctions is to put sufficient pressure on a bilateral so that Lukashenko has to go. This is a really a regime change group of sanctions. Meeting: A conversation with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Atlantic Council, December 7, 2020 Watch on Youtube Speakers: Damon Wilson Executive VP of the Atlantic Council 2007-2009: Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council Former Executive Secretary and Chief of Staff at US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq 2004-2006: Director for Central, Eastern, and Northern European Affairs at the National Security Council 2001-2004: Deputy Director in the Private Office of NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson - Played a lead role on the Alliance’s response to 9/11 and its operations in Afghanistan and the Western Balkans Melinda Haring Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center Eurasia Foundation Freedom House National Democratic Institute Council on Foreign Relations Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Transcript: 1:37 Damon Wilson: After her husband was jailed by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenka, while running for President, Svetlana stepped in. Running a historic campaign for change. Much of the world recognizes that she overwhelmingly won the August 9th election, but Tsikhanouskaya was forced to flee the country after the regime threatened her family. The people of Belarus have protested for months demanding that Lukashenka resign, they are the true source of legitimacy. Tsikhanouskaya and the coordination Council for the transition of power which she leads from Vilnius, Lithuania, is recognized by the European Union and many others as the true voice of the Belarusian people. 5:42 Melinda Haring: How can the people of Belarus change the dynamic on the ground and force out Lukashenka? 8:07 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: We are asking the west to act faster. In my opinion, Western countries should demand new and fair elections and release of all political prisoners. Belarus democracy Act would serve as timely and extremely helpful step from the head of the US government in support of their brave people. 19:57 Melinda Haring: Look, I wanted to tell our audience if they haven't had a chance to get a copy of The Washington Post. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya has a piece in it this weekend. It's called 'The people of Belarus are Still Marching, Help Us.' And she writes very passionately about the need to pass the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights and Sovereignty Act of 2020. There's two weeks left to pass this act before Congress is out. Ms. Tsikhanouskaya what's in it and why is it important? Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: The proceeds the bipartisan support received in favor of this act. We hope that this draft bill becomes law as soon as possible, as it would inspire the US to act decisively and urgently to support Belarus. Belarusian peaceful protest is a turning point. People struggle, people suffer. People struggle everyday with great dedication, yet there is a need of support on behalf of the international community. And when the new democracy act becomes low, it would send a strong signal to the Belarusian regime and the rest of the world on non recognition of Lukashenka's legitimacy, call for new presidential elections and oversee standards and demand the release of all political prisoners. You know, in our opinion, the Act would allow prompt US assistance to the civil society, media and urgent actions such as counter internet blockages in Belarus. Meeting: Backing Batka: Russia's strategic economic integration with Belarus, Atlantic Council, November 6, 2020 Watch on Youtube Speakers: Host: John Herbst Director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council 2003-2006: US Ambassador to Ukraine 2000-2003: US Ambassador to Uzbekistan played a critical role in the establishment of an American base to help conduct Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan Former Principal Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for the New Independent States Dr. Katerina Bornukova, academic director of the BEROC Economic Research Center Professor Vladislav Inozemtsev Senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Dirk Schuebel Ambassador of the European Union to Belarus Dr. Anders Åslund Senior fellow at the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition Former Director of the Russian and Eurasian Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 5:58 Dirk Schuebel: The pro-democracy movement and Belarus now faces the difficult prospect of dislodging Mr. Lukashenko, the unrecognized President who refuses to leave office. 6:47 Dr. Katerina Bornukova: So, if we take a look at the recent economic growth, over the last 10 years, we will see stagnation, average growth rate was around 1.7% only, which is too low for a developing economy, which needs to catch up. And the reason for this is structural problems, lack of reforms and privatization. As a result, we have a very large state owned sector, which is inefficient and which has accumulated a lot of debt, and this debt was slowly transferred to the government. So, which means that, well, right now, over the years, Belarus has also accumulated public debt. And right now that that is up to 35% of GDP. It's not relatively large, but it's quite difficult to serve because the majority of this debt is nominated in foreign currencies and that means that the liquidity and currency is always a problem with Belarus, and it often turns to Russia to solve this problem. So right now 50% of the debt is held by Russia or Russia associated funds. 10:45 Professor Vladislav Inozemtsev: Even if the government in Belarus changes, Russia will not...it cannot decouple from better because there are a lot of links, which tightens the two countries. First of all, Belarus is a part of the so called union state with Russia existing from like 99. It's a part of the Eurasian Economic Union. And in this case, Russia can allow to lose Belarus. There is a huge difference between Belarus and Ukraine for example, in this case, because Ukraine never was a part of any Russian led organizations but Belarus is. 13:49 Professor Vladislav Inozemtsev: The difference between Ukraine for example and Belarus is that Belarusian economy is state owned, it is not controlled by the oligarchy groups as it is in Ukraine. So therefore, for participating in this privatization for getting this shares or stakes in Belarus enterprise, the Russian private companies should be allowed to do so. So, therefore, there were several moves from the Russian side from the Russian private companies in direction of somehow changing the situation and to being allowed to jump in. 24:40 Dr. Anders Åslund: More money must come. And as we have discussed, all of us, this essentially has to come from the private sector. Ideally, this would be an IMF program, but the IMF is not ready to go for any program way of Lukashenko. They haven't had anything since 2009. Because Lukashenko refuses to do the elementary thing, stop subsidies to state enterprises and deregulated certain prices. So this is out of question. Hearing: Markup Hearing including Belarus bill, U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2020 Watch on Youtube Transcript: 1:18:30 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you as well for bringing the Belarus Democracy Human Rights and Sovereignty Act of 2020. And thank you to Ranking Member McCall for his leadership on this Chairman Keating and Mr. Kissinger for their leadership as well. And Marcy Kaptur, who is also one of the co sponsors originals of this bill. 1:20:15 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): We are now approaching almost two months since the fraudulent poll. And the people of Belarus despite the brutal crackdown, are still organizing rallies of 100,000 people or more demanding that Lukashenko leave power, and lead Belarus to the people to whom it belongs. I would note to my colleagues that according to the UN Special Rapporteur, more than 10,000 peaceful protesters have been detained as of September 18. And they need our help. Recent reports indicate that the police are using now, today increasingly violent tactics against these peaceful demonstrators. We do have a window of opportunity, and we need to seize it with everything that we have. As my colleagues know, the leading opposition presidential candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who won the election by most accounts. Of course, there's not access to the ballots, but it seems clear that she won the election formed the coordination Council. Svetlana is an incredibly brave woman. She ran a brilliant campaign. But today she has an exile in Lithuania, where she continues to rally the Belarusian people and the world. I want to thank Mr. Keating for putting together that WebEx a few weeks ago with her and some of the coordination leaders from the council. We all saw a new and a fresh, just how important it is that we stand behind her. And behind all of the people of Belarus who have aspirations for free and fair elections and for democracy. 1:21:50 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): This bill today updates the Belarus Democracy Acts of 2004, 2006, and 2011 that I authored, and renews the personal economic and visa sanctions on an expanded list of bad actors in the Belarusian government. And, this is new, Russian individuals complicit in the crackdown. It calls for new elections, it recognizes the coordination council as a legitimate institution to participate in a dialogue on a peaceful transition of power. 1:23:15 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): So I just want to thank my colleagues. It's a totally bipartisan bill. I want to thank Katie Earle for her work on the bill. I want to thank Jackie Ramos, Pierre Tosi, Patrick, the Doug Anderson, there are just many who have worked together fast, quickly and effectively, and members to put together this bipartisan legislation. Hearing: Protecting Democracy During COVID–19 in Europe and Eurasia and the Democratic Awakening in Belarus, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, September 10, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Douglas Rutzen President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Professor at Georgetown University Law Center Advisory Board member of the United Nations Democracy Fund Therese Pearce Laanela Head of Electoral Processes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Joanna Rohozinska Resident Program Director for Europe at the Beacon Project at the International Republican Institute Senior program officer for Europe at the National Endowment for Democracy at least as of 2019. She has worked there for about a decade Jamie Fly Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Co-Director of the Alliance for Security Democracy Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors Co-founded by incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2019 & 2020 Former counselor for foreign and national security affairs for Sen. Marco Rubio from 2013-2017 Former Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative from 2009-2013 Former member of GWB's National Security Council from 2008-2009 Former member of GWB's Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2008 Transcript: 53:30 Joanna Rohozinska: Lukashenko must be held responsible for his choices and actions. Word mating strategies with transatlantic allies should be priority and to call for dialogue, immediate release of political prisoners and support for the political opposition's demands for holding elections under international supervision and beginning negotiations on a Lukashenko transition. 53:56 Joanna Rohozinska: Support for democracy requires patience as well as long term commitment and vision. This has been made possible with the support of Congress to IRI and the family. Thank you and I look forward to your questions. 1:03:05 Therese Pearce Laanela: Institutions that are as strong...What we are seeing... those that are able to safeguard and against disinformation for example, they are working in innovative ways because this isn't a challenge that existed really as much before social media and one of the things that we're seeing is a kind of interagency cooperation, a partnership between private and public. That's really hasn't been seen before. Let me just take Australia as a case, but the working together with social media companies and government agencies and security agencies and election officials for rapid reaction to anything that comes in and that kind of seamless communication between agencies, that is one of the ways in which we can protect. 1:04:15 Jamie Fly: We have tools. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty has a Bella Russian language service Radio Svoboda which has significant of followers inside Belarus. The problem is that Lukashenko like many other authoritarians have realized that when they face significant pressure, they should take the country offline. And Belarusian authorities have done that on a regular basis, which makes it much more difficult to communicate and allow information to spread freely. So what they really need outlets like Svoboda and other independent media are access to internet circumvention tools, which are also funded by the State Department and the US Agency for Global Media. 1:09:57 Douglas Rutzen: China is providing surveillance technology to countries including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Serbia. They also provided a $2 billion dollar loan to Hungry to construct a railway which Hungry then classified as a state secret in terms of the construction. 1:19:28 Brian Fitzpatrick: In 2013, in 2000, and he saw large scale protests in Ukraine, following what many believed to be a falsification of elections by their federal officials. So my first question for the entire panel, do you believe that Belarus protests could lead to a revolution similar to the one we saw in Ukraine and secondarily, on Tuesday, President Lukashenko, refused to rule out the idea of holding new elections, and acknowledge that he may have overstayed his time at office, whether or not you see revolutions similar to Ukraine, do you think that these protests could lead to an actual change in leadership? Joanna Rohozinska: So I take it as a question to me. I mean, I think that things have been building up and I would say that with this similarity to Ukraine was that there was also a deep seated frustration with corruption. Here, it's less about corruption. But it's still meets, where you have the accountability and transparency aspect of it that I was mentioning in my testimony. And I think that the frustration with the lack of responsive government and being treated like animals, frankly, is what they say, is what finally boiled over, but there's been, there's been an uptick in protests in Belarus, if you watch these kinds of things over the past two years, over the parasite tax, for example, which was also was a special tax that was put on unemployment, and on to penalize people who are unemployed, is trying to target civic activists, but it ended up reaching far farther than that. So you can see things percolating below the surface for quite a long time. Now. You never know when it's going to blow. Here, I think that there was just the COVID, underlay everything and it mobilized such a broad swath of society, that the trigger event was finally the elections, which again, demonstrating a degree of hubris they decided not to put off right, they figured that holding the elections at the beginning of August was the best thing to do, because there is always a low torque turnout and all this, frankly, because people tend to go out to the countryside. So they simply miscalculated. They did not understand how the people were feeling. And here, you do have a similarity with Ukraine, I think. And in terms of in terms of the other questions to going forward? No, you have to appreciate that this is a country that's never experienced democracy ever. Which means that even the democratic opposition leaders basically know it from textbooks, they don't know what from firsthand practice. And, Lukashenko himself, ironically, has been supporting the notion of sovereignty and independence in the face of the Russian state for the past couple of years. And he only changed his tune a couple of weeks ago, when he started getting backed into a corner. And in terms of, you know, his promises and calling new elections, I would be wary. He does not have a particularly good track record of following through on promises. And so I would probably take that as a lesson learned and be extremely cautious. I personally think he's just buying time. Because he also said that he would consider holding the elections after introducing constitutional changes and the constitutional changes that he's proposing is to introduce term limits. So I mean, he's still looking at the succession. He understands that this is the end of his time in office. I don't know if he wants to do that right, exactly now, however, understanding that this would have been his last term anyways, you're probably preparing for an exit strategy. 1:23:00 Joanna Rohozinska: I would certainly invest in looking at quality early parliamentary elections as being much more significant. Because once you turn the house, once you turn the parliament and then at least you start building up a degree of political capital that can start carrying forward into into the governance. 1:52:37 Therese Pearce Laanela: Your people are excellent. I really want to say that I'm calling in from Sweden. I'm not American myself. But I have worked in this business for 28 years working in different countries in really tough situations. And some of the best experts out there are from organizations that are very close to those of you when you're normally working in Washington. So the United Nations as well based in New York, but also organizations like IFIS, NDI, our colleagues from IRI they are doing excellent work supported by USA ID. So and they've kind of got it figured out how to support institutions for the long term, so you can trust the people that you are supporting. Hearing: Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden, Council on Foreign Relations, January 23, 2018 Speakers: Richard Haass - President of the Council on Foreign Relations Joe Biden State Department Daily Briefing, Department of State, February 6, 2014 Ukraine coup - leaked phone call between Victoria Nuland and Geoffey Pyatt, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, February 6, 2014 Watch on YouTube Hearing: Economic Aid to New Independent States, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, January 24, 1994 Witnesses: Brian Atwood Then: USAID Adminstrator Now: NDI board member - Was the first president of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs Stephen Cohen Then: Professor at Princeton with emphasis in Russian studies Married to Katrina Vanden Heuvel Criticized the Obama administration for starting the new Cold War Said in 2014 that Ukraine crisis was a result of US actions, starting with Clinton, aimed at expanding NATO up to Russia's border. Wrote about our role in the 2014 Ukraine coup  Strobe Talbot Then: Deputy Secretary of State Former Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization President of the Brookings Institution for 15 years Member of CFR Transcript: 14:23 Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT): There is no greater United States national security objective today than to assist Russia make a peaceful transition to a stable democratic form of government, an open pluralistic society, a market economy. Such a transition offers the best prospect of a long term cooperative, peaceful relationship with the only other nuclear power capable of destroying the United States. 26:39 Strobe Talbot: Our approach from the beginning, our strategy has been to reinforce those trends in Russian political and economic life that together we believe, constitute the essence of the Great Transformation underway in that country. Those trends are democratization and privatization. They are in fact interlocking. They are mutually reinforcing. The more people work in private enterprise, the more they are likely to participate in the democratic process and the more they are likely to vote for candidates who will support economic as well as political freedom. 27:27 Strobe Talbot: Our bilateral foreign aid program is intended in its essence, to help prime the pump for the flow of much higher levels of support from two other sources from the international business community in the form of trade and investment, and from the international financial institutions in the form of loans to help Russia make the transition from a command to a market economy. 28:25 Strobe Talbot: President Yeltsin needs to have the confidence that if he continues to press forward on a strong economic reform program, Western support will be swift and substantial. But he and his colleagues in both the executive and the legislative branches of the Russian government must also understand something else. And that is the cause and effect relationship between internal reform and outside support. Our support will follow their reform. It cannot be the other way around. 29:30 Strobe Talbot: Privatization involves closing down inefficient state enterprises while the shift to market economics at least initially brings higher prices. The result is social pain, disruption and fear of the future. If they reach critical mass, those ingredients can explode into a political backlash against reform. 1:46:00 Strobe Talbot: The world has capital flows, potential for investment that can move into societies like Russia, where the population is highly educated. It's a tremendous human resource where there are natural resources that can be exploited for the good of Russia and for the entire world economy. 2:23:47 Strobe Talbot: Now we do not know what the future holds. We do not know what kind of Russia we will be sharing the planet with early in the 21st century. We do not know if it will have stayed on a reform path and have continued to move in the direction of integration. 2:53:10 Stephen Cohen: Now, to be fair, this unwise American policy toward Russia began under President Bush in the end of 1991, with the breakup of the Soviet Union, but for a full year now President Clinton has expanded that policy, made it worse and therefore now, it is his policy. 2:54:10 Stephen Cohen: The guiding principle of that policy since 1991 has been, and evidently based on the hearing today remains, an exceedingly missionary and highly interventionist idea that the United States can and should intervene in Russia's internal affairs in order to convert or transform that nation into an American style system at home, and a submissive junior partner of the United States abroad. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

The Electoral College has voted for Joe Biden as next president of the United States, but more evidence of America’s election having been hacked is being revealed all the time, and Donald Trump’s path to the presidency is still open. Israel successfully conducted its first-ever multilayered defense test, and is now considering sharing this cutting-edge technology with the Arab states with which it is building alliances. This highlights the potential dark side of these Israeli-Arab peace deals. The Nord Stream pipeline project between Germany and Russia that had shut down because of American sanctions is now back under construction. Will they complete it? We also talk about China’s successful moon landing, Uzbekistan joining the Eurasian Economic Union, Sweden massively boosting its defense budget, and a Trump administration lawyer advising Americans to stock up on guns and ammunition. LinksElectoral College Vote“Why Donald Trump Will Remain America’s President”Israel Defense“Deadly Flaw in Mideast Peace Deals”Nord Stream“Germany and Russia’s Secret War Against America”China Goes to the Moon“One Giant Leap for China”Russia and China in ProphecyIran“Trump’s Middle East Peace Deals Are Just Getting Started”TRENDS: “Why the Trumpet Watches Iran Allying With Egypt”Uzbekistan Joins EEUThe Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia’Sweden Defense“Russia Continues Baltic Buildup”TRENDS: “Why the Trumpet Watches Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military”‘Stock Up’ Advice“Prominent Election Attorney: Stock Up on Guns and Ammunition”“As Gun Sales Rise, Where Is Your Source of Protection?”Jordan and God’s Church in Prophecy

SHOW NOTES: https://bit.ly/3kSjhlvThis Week in Review we talk with Hrant Mikaelian to discuss important issues and developments around Armenia, such as the Coronavirus Pandemic, and its economic effect; Armenia’s membership in EurAsian Economic Union and the economic effect of that organization on Armenia; and some of the trends affecting Russia and its economy.Hrant will then join us in our weekly lightning round of questions from the past week’s headlines, to analyze Prime Minister Pashinyan’s interview with BBC’s HARDtalk; the presidential elections in Belarus; and the continuing standoff at Amulsar Gold Mine between Lydian and local residents and environmental activists.Topics:Interview with Hrant MikaelianLightning RoundNikol Pashinyan’s Interview on BBC HARDtalkBelarus Presidential ElectionsAmulsar Gold MineSpecial Guest: Hrant MikaelianResident Panelists:Asbed KotchikianArtyom TonoyanAlen ZamanyanHosts:Hovik ManucharyanAsbed Bedrossian

读书嘉宾：文学博士、教授、博导，北京外国语大学高级翻译学院院长，北外MTI教育专家委员会主任；美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊总校富布莱特访问学者；全国翻译专业资格（水平）考试英语专家委员会委员、中国译协理事、中国译协口译委员会副主任；第三届全国翻译专业学位研究生教育指导委员会学术委员会委员。中英文本：深化文明交流互鉴，共建亚洲命运共同体Create an Asian Community of Shared Future Through Mutual Learning尊敬的各位国家元首、政府首脑、国际组织负责人，尊敬的各位嘉宾，女士们，先生们，朋友们：Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,Your Excellencies Heads of International Organizations,Distinguished guests,Ladies and gentlemen,Friends,在这个草木生长的美好季节，来自亚洲47个国家和五大洲的各方嘉宾，为深化文明交流互鉴共聚一堂，共襄盛举。首先，我谨代表中国政府和中国人民，并以我个人的名义，对亚洲文明对话大会的召开，表示诚挚的祝贺！对各位嘉宾的到来，表示热烈的欢迎！In this lovely season of thriving green, I am pleased that our friends from 47 Asian countries and five continents are meeting here for a discussion on deeper exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, let me express my warmest congratulations on the opening of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations and extend a very warm welcome to you all.当前，世界多极化、经济全球化、文化多样化、社会信息化深入发展，人类社会充满希望。同时，国际形势的不稳定性不确定性更加突出，人类面临的全球性挑战更加严峻，需要世界各国齐心协力、共同应对。The world today is moving towards multi-polarity and becoming more economically globalized, culturally diverse,and IT-driven. All this offers hope to humanity. In contrast, however, instability and uncertainties are mounting, and the global challenges faced by humanity are ever more daunting, calling for joint responses from allcountries.应对共同挑战、迈向美好未来，既需要经济科技力量，也需要文化文明力量。亚洲文明对话大会，为促进亚洲及世界各国文明开展平等对话、交流互鉴、相互启迪提供了一个新的平台。To meet our common challenges and create a better future for all, we look to culture and civilization to play their roles, which are as important as the roles played by the economy, and by science and technology.The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations is for this very purpose, as it provides a new platform for civilizations in Asia and beyond to engage indialogue and exchanges on an equal footing and facilitate mutual learning.女士们、先生们、朋友们！Ladies and gentlemen,Friends,亚洲是人类最早的定居地之一，也是人类文明的重要发祥地。亚洲地大物博、山河秀美，在世界三分之一的陆地上居住着全球三分之二的人口，47个国家、1000多个民族星罗棋布。从公元前数千年起，生活在底格里斯河－幼发拉底河、印度河－恒河、黄河－长江等流域的人们，开始耕耘灌溉、铸器造皿、建设家园。一代又一代亚洲先民历经岁月洗礼，把生产生活实践镌刻成悠久历史、积淀成深厚文明。广袤富饶的平原，碧波荡漾的水乡，辽阔壮美的草原，浩瀚无垠的沙漠，奔腾不息的江海，巍峨挺拔的山脉，承载和滋润了多彩的亚洲文明。Asia is home to one of the earliest human settlements and a major cradle of human civilization. This vast and beautiful continent covers a third of the Earth's land mass and has two-thirds of the world population. It has more than 1,000 ethnic groups living in 47 countries. For several thousand years before the Common Era, our forefathers living alongthe Tigris and the Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganges, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, tilled and irrigated the land, made tools and utensils, and built homes to live in. Generation after generation, our ancestors in Asia, with their tireless endeavors, created a time-honored history and profound andrich civilizations. Our vast and fertile plains, beautiful river basins, broad steppes, immense deserts, mighty rivers and oceans, and lofty mountains have nourished and enriched diverse and colorful civilizations across Asia.在数千年发展历程中，亚洲人民创造了辉煌的文明成果。《诗经》、《论语》、《塔木德》、《一千零一夜》、《梨俱吠陀》、《源氏物语》等名篇经典，楔形文字、地图、玻璃、阿拉伯数字、造纸术、印刷术等发明创造，长城、麦加大清真寺、泰姬陵、吴哥窟等恢宏建筑……都是人类文明的宝贵财富。各种文明在这片土地上交相辉映，谱写了亚洲文明发展史诗。In building our civilizations over thecourse of several millennia, we the people of Asia have achieved great splendor. I think of literary classics such as the Book of Songs, The Analectsof Confucius, the Talmud, One Thousand and One Nights', The Rigveda and TheTale of Genji; of inventions such as the cuneiform script, maps, glass, Arabic numerals, and papermaking and printing techniques; and of majestic structures like thegreat Wall, the Great Mosque of Mecca, the Taj Mahal, and Angkor Wat. They all form part of the invaluable heritage of human civilization. Through interactions on this continent. Asian civilizations have enriched each otherand written an epic of development.亚洲先人们早就开始了文明交流互鉴。丝绸之路、茶叶之路、香料之路等古老商路，助推丝绸、茶叶、陶瓷、香料、绘画雕塑等风靡亚洲各国，记录着亚洲先人们交往交流、互通有无的文明对话。现在，“一带一路”、“两廊一圈”、“欧亚经济联盟”等拓展了文明交流互鉴的途径，各国在科技、教育、文化、卫生、民间交往等领域的合作蓬勃开展，亚洲文明也在自身内部及同世界文明的交流互鉴中发展壮大。Our forefathers in Asia have long engaged in inter-civilization exchanges and mutual learning. The ancient trade routes,notably the Silk Road, the Tea Road and the Spice Road, brought silk, tea, porcelain, spices, paintings and sculpture to all corners of Asia, and witnessed inter-civilization dialogue in the form of trade and cultural interflow. Today, the Belt and Road Initiative, together with the Two Corridors and One Belt, the Eurasian Economic Union and other initiatives, has greatly expanded inter-civilization exchanges and mutual learning, Cooperation among nations inscience and technology, education, culture, health and people-to-people exchangesis thriving as never before Thanks to exchanges and mutual learning betweeneach other and with other civilizations in the world, Asian civilizations have grown from strength to strength.璀璨的亚洲文明，为世界文明发展史书写了浓墨重彩的篇章，人类文明因亚洲而更加绚烂多姿。从宗教到哲学、从道德到法律、从文学到绘画、从戏剧到音乐、从城市到乡村，亚洲形成了覆盖广泛的世俗礼仪、写下了传承千年的不朽巨著、留下了精湛深邃的艺术瑰宝、形成了种类多样的制度成果，为世界提供了丰富的文明选择。The great Asian civilizations have aspecial place in the annals of world civilization, and they have added to the diversity of human civilization. Think of what Asia stands to offer in terms of religion, philosophy, code of ethics, law, literature, painting, drama, music, and even the building of towns and villages. They speak volumes for Asia's proud achievements extensive systems of social customs, immortal classics that have endured for millennia, the fine pool of exquisite art, and diverse institutions, among others. All these offer rich choices for civilizations theworld over to draw on.回顾历史、展望世界，我们应该增强文明自信，在先辈们铸就的光辉成就的基础上，坚持同世界其他文明交流互鉴，努力续写亚洲文明新辉煌。As we review our past and look beyond Asia,we should have greater confidence in our civilizations. We may build on the rich heritage of our forefathers, stay engaged with other civilizations, and increase mutual learning. By doing so, we will add new glory to Asian civilizations.女士们、先生们、朋友们！Ladies and gentlemen,Friends,亚洲各国山水相连、人文相亲，有着相似的历史境遇、相同的梦想追求。面向未来，我们应该把握大势、顺应潮流，努力把亚洲人民对美好生活的向往变成现实。We Asian countries are closely connected and share a natural bond of affinity. We have passed through similar historical trials, and we cherish the same dreams for the future. Going forward, we needto see where the world is heading, ride the trends of the times, and turn our people's longing for a better life into reality.——亚洲人民期待一个和平安宁的亚洲。维护和平是每个国家都应该肩负起来的责任。没有和平，冲突不断甚至战火纷飞，经济增长、民生改善、社会稳定、人民往来等都会沦为空谈。亚洲各国人民希望远离恐惧，实现安居乐业、普遍安全，希望各国互尊互信、和睦相处，广泛开展跨国界、跨时空、跨文明的交往活动，共同维护比金子还珍贵的和平时光。We Asian people hope to see peace andstability across Asia. Upholding peace is the responsibility of every country. When peace is interrupted by conflict or war, economic growth, decent lives, social stability and people-to-people exchanges will fall by the wayside. We the people of Asian countries wish to live and work in contentment and security, free from fear. We hope that all countries will respect and trust each other, livein harmony, and interact with each other in a manner that transcends national boundaries, time and space, as well as the differences between civilizations. We should work together to safeguard peace, something that is far more precious than gold.——亚洲人民期待一个共同繁荣的亚洲。经济发展是文明存续的有力支撑，繁荣富强是国家进步的重要基石。亚洲一些民众特别是妇女儿童正忍受着贫困、饥饿、疾病的折磨，这样的局面必须改变。亚洲各国人民希望远离贫困、富足安康，希望各国合力推进开放、包容、普惠、平衡、共赢的经济全球化，共同消除一些国家民众依然面临的贫穷落后，共同为孩子们创造衣食无忧的生活，让幸福和欢乐走进每一个家庭。We Asian people hope to see common prosperity in Asia. Economic growth sustains a civilization, and prosperity underpins the progress of a nation. In some parts of Asia, people - women and childrenin particular- are still suffering from poverty, hunger, and disease. This mustchange. We Asian people long for a decent life free of poverty. We hope that countries will work together to promote economic globalization and make it moreopen, inclusive, balanced, and beneficial to all. This will enable us to eradicate the poverty and backwardness that still plague people in some countries. It will enable our children to live a carefree life and bring happiness to allfamilies.——亚洲人民期待一个开放融通的亚洲。亚洲近几十年快速发展，一条十分重要的经验就是敞开大门，主动融入世界经济发展潮流。如果各国重新回到一个个自我封闭的孤岛，人类文明就将因老死不相往来而丧失生机活力。亚洲各国人民希望远离封闭、融会通达，希望各国秉持开放精神，推进政策沟通、设施联通、贸易畅通、资金融通、民心相通，共同构建亚洲命运共同体、人类命运共同体。We Asian people hope to see an open and better-connected Asia. Asia's rapid development over the past decades showsthat it is important to open our doors to the outside world and ride the trend ofglobal economic development. If countries choose to close their doors and hide behind them, world civilizations will be cut off from each other and lose allvitality. We Asian people hope that all countries will reject self-imposedisolation, embrace integration, uphold opening up, and promote policy,infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity. This way, we can jointly foster a community of shared future for both Asians and all humanity.女士们、先生们、朋友们！Ladies and gentlemen,Friends,文明因多样而交流，因交流而互鉴，因互鉴而发展。我们要加强世界上不同国家、不同民族、不同文化的交流互鉴，夯实共建亚洲命运共同体、人类命运共同体的人文基础。为此，我愿提出4点主张。Diversity spurs interaction amongcivilizations, which in turn promotes mutual learning and further development.We need to promote exchanges and mutual learning among countries, nations andcultures around the world, and strengthen popular support for a community ofshared future for both Asia and humanity as a whole. To that end, I believe itis imperative that we take the following actions:第一，坚持相互尊重、平等相待。每一种文明都扎根于自己的生存土壤，凝聚着一个国家、一个民族的非凡智慧和精神追求，都有自己存在的价值。人类只有肤色语言之别，文明只有姹紫嫣红之别，但绝无高低优劣之分。认为自己的人种和文明高人一等，执意改造甚至取代其他文明，在认识上是愚蠢的，在做法上是灾难性的！如果人类文明变得只有一个色调、一个模式了，那这个世界就太单调了，也太无趣了！我们应该秉持平等和尊重，摒弃傲慢和偏见，加深对自身文明和其他文明差异性的认知，推动不同文明交流对话、和谐共生。First, we need to respect each other andtreat each other as equals. All civilizations are rooted in their unique cultural environment. Each embodies the wisdom and vision of a country ornation, and each is valuable for being unique itself. Civilizations vary from each other only as human beings differ in terms of skin color and the language used. No civilization is superior to others. It is foolhardy to think that one's own race and civilization are superior and to insist on remolding or replacing other civilizations. To act these out will only have catastrophic consequences.If world civilizations are reduced to one single color or one single model, theworld will become monolithic and a dull place to live. What we need is torespect each other as equals and say no to hubris and prejudice. We need adeeper understanding of the differences between our own civilizations and others, and we must work to promote interaction, dialogue and harmony among civilizations.我访问过世界上许多地方，最吸引我的就是韵味不同的文明，如中亚的古城撒马尔罕、埃及的卢克索神庙、新加坡的圣淘沙、泰国的曼谷玉佛寺、希腊的雅典卫城等。中国愿同各国开展亚洲文化遗产保护行动，为更好传承文明提供必要支撑。In the many places I have visited around the world, what fascinates me most is civilizations in their rich diversity. I cannot but think of the Central Asian city of Samarkand, the Luxor Temple in Egypt Sentosa in Singapore, Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, and the Acropolis in Athens, to mention just a few. China is ready to work with other countries toprotect Asian cultural heritage and better preserve and sustain our civilizations.第二，坚持美人之美、美美与共。每一种文明都是美的结晶，都彰显着创造之美。一切美好的事物都是相通的。人们对美好事物的向往，是任何力量都无法阻挡的！各种文明本没有冲突，只是要有欣赏所有文明之美的眼睛。我们既要让本国文明充满勃勃生机，又要为他国文明发展创造条件，让世界文明百花园群芳竞艳。Second, we need to uphold the beauty ofeach civilization the diversity of civilizations around the world. Each civilization is crystallization of human creation, and each is beautiful in its own way. An aspiration for all that is beautiful is common to all humanity, andnothing can hold it back. Civilizations do not have to clash with each other; what is needed is to see the beauty in all civilizations with eyes. We should keep our own civilizations dynamic and create conditions or other civilizations to flourish. Together we can make the garden of world civilizations more colorful and vibrant.文明之美集中体现在哲学、社会科学等经典著作和文学、音乐、影视剧等文艺作品之中。现在，大量外国优秀文化产品进入中国，许多中国优秀文化产品走向世界。中国愿同有关国家一道，实施亚洲经典著作互译计划和亚洲影视交流合作计划，帮助人们加深对彼此文化的理解和欣赏，为展示和传播文明之美打造交流互鉴平台。The beauty of a civilization finds concrete expression in the classic works of philosophy and social sciences and works ofliterature, music, film and TV drama. Now, a large number of outstanding cultural works from other countries are being brought into China, and a lot of fine Chinese cultural products are being introduced to other countries. China is happy to launch initiatives with other countries to translate Asian classics both from and into Chinese and to promote film and TV exchanges and cooperationin Asia. This will help people in Asia better understand and appreciate each other's cultures and build a platform of exchanges and mutual learning for the best of Asian civilizations to spread and be better known to the world.第三，坚持开放包容、互学互鉴。一切生命有机体都需要新陈代谢，否则生命就会停止。文明也是一样，如果长期自我封闭，必将走向衰落。交流互鉴是文明发展的本质要求。只有同其他文明交流互鉴、取长补短，才能保持旺盛生命活力。文明交流互鉴应该是对等的、平等的，应该是多元的、多向的，而不应该是强制的、强迫的，不应该是单一的、单向的。我们应该以海纳百川的宽广胸怀打破文化交往的壁垒，以兼收并蓄的态度汲取其他文明的养分，促进亚洲文明在交流互鉴中共同前进。Third, we need to stay open and inclusive and draw on each other's strengths. All living organisms must renew themselvesthrough metabolism; otherwise. life would come to an end. The same is true forcivilizations. Long-term self-imposed isolation will cause a civilization todecline, while exchanges and mutual learning will sustain it. A civilization can flourish only through exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations. Such exchanges and mutual learning should be reciprocal,equal-footed, diverse, and multidimensional; they should not be coercive,imposed, one-dimensional, or one-way. We need to be broad-minded and strive to remove all barriers to cultural exchanges. We need to be inclusive and always seek nourishment from other civilizations to promote the common development of Asian civilizations through exchanges and mutual learning.人是文明交流互鉴最好的载体。深化人文交流互鉴是消除隔阂和误解、促进民心相知相通的重要途径。这些年来，中国同各国一道，在教育、文化、体育、卫生等领域搭建了众多合作平台，开辟了广泛合作渠道。中国愿同各国加强青少年、民间团体、地方、媒体等各界交流，打造智库交流合作网络，创新合作模式，推动各种形式的合作走深走实，为推动文明交流互鉴创造条件。People are the best bridge for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Increased people-to-people exchanges and mutual learning, for that matter, are a sure way to eliminate estrangement and misunderstanding and to promote mutual understanding among nations. Overthe years, in collaboration with other countries, China has established many platforms and channels for cooperation in education, culture, sports, health, and other fields. China will work other countries to step up exchanges among youths, NGOs, with subnational entities, and media organizations, to create a network of exchanges and cooperation between think tanks, to explore new models of cooperation, and to deliver more solid outcomes in diverse forms. Such efforts will boost exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.第四，坚持与时俱进、创新发展。文明永续发展，既需要薪火相传、代代守护，更需要顺时应势、推陈出新。世界文明历史揭示了一个规律：任何一种文明都要与时偕行，不断吸纳时代精华。我们应该用创新增添文明发展动力、激活文明进步的源头活水，不断创造出跨越时空、富有永恒魅力的文明成果。Fourth, we need to advance with the timesand explore new ground. To sustain a civilization, it must be kept vibrant andbuilt on its heritage from one generation to the next. More importantly, acivilization needs to adapt itself to the changing times and break new ground.The history of world civilizations tells us that every civilization needs toadvance with the times and take in the best of its age in order to progress. We need to come up with new ideas to add impetus and inspiration to ourcivilizations. Through these efforts we will deliver achievements for ourcivilizations to transcend time and space and endure.激发人们创新创造活力，最直接的方法莫过于走入不同文明，发现别人的优长，启发自己的思维。2018年，中国国内居民出境超过1.6亿人次，入境游客超过1.4亿人次，这是促进中外文明交流互鉴的重要力量。中国愿同各国实施亚洲旅游促进计划，为促进亚洲经济发展、增进亚洲人民友谊贡献更大力量。To spur people's innovation and creativity, the best way is to come into contact with different civilizations, see thestrengths of others, and draw upon them. Last year, Chinese tourists made over 160 million overseas trips, and more than 140 million foreign tourists visited China. These visits played an important role in promoting exchanges andmutual learning between China and the rest of the world. In this connection, China will work with other countries to implement a plan to promote tourism in Asia. This will further boost economic development in Asia and deepen friendship among the Asian people.女士们、先生们、朋友们！Ladies and gentlemenFriends,中华文明是亚洲文明的重要组成部分。自古以来，中华文明在继承创新中不断发展，在应时处变中不断升华，积淀着中华民族最深沉的精神追求，是中华民族生生不息、发展壮大的丰厚滋养。中国的造纸术、火药、印刷术、指南针、天文历法、哲学思想、民本理念等在世界上影响深远，有力推动了人类文明发展进程。As an inseparable part of Asian civilization, Chinese civilization, since its early days, has evolved and grown by drawing on its past achievements, exploring new ground, and adapting to changes. This represents a profound aspiration of the Chinese nation and provides a rich source of strength for its lasting development. Chinese inventions such as papermaking, gunpowder, printing and the compass, as well as China's astronomical knowledge, calendar system, philosophy and people-centered doctrine have all had a global impact and propelled the development of human civilization.中华文明是在同其他文明不断交流互鉴中形成的开放体系。从历史上的佛教东传、“伊儒会通”，到近代以来的“西学东渐”、新文化运动、马克思主义和社会主义思想传入中国，再到改革开放以来全方位对外开放，中华文明始终在兼收并蓄中历久弥新。亲仁善邻、协和万邦是中华文明一贯的处世之道，惠民利民、安民富民是中华文明鲜明的价值导向，革故鼎新、与时俱进是中华文明永恒的精神气质，道法自然、天人合一是中华文明内在的生存理念。Chinese civilization, as an inclusive and integrated whole, has become what it is today through constant interactions with other civilizations. It has been enriched by the introduction of Buddhism and the confluence of Islam and Confucianism in the old days, and by theintroduction of Western learning, the launch of the New Culture Movement, and theintroduction of Marxism and socialism in modern times. All-round opening up of the country, starting with the reform and opening-up program, has added to itsvitality today. For Chinese civilization, pursuing amity, good neighborliness and harmony is the principle guiding our interactions with other countries. To bring prosperity and security to the people is the overarching goal, to keep pace with the times through reform and innovation the abiding commitment, and to achieve harmony between man and nature the underlying philosophy.今日之中国，不仅是中国之中国，而且是亚洲之中国、世界之中国。未来之中国，必将以更加开放的姿态拥抱世界、以更有活力的文明成就贡献世界。China today is more than the countryitself; it is very much a part of Asia and the world. In times to come, China will open its arms wider to embrace the world and contribute the dynamic achievements of Chinese civilization to a better world.女士们、先生们、朋友们！Ladies and gentlemen,Friends,这次亚洲文明对话大会议题广泛、内容丰富，希望大家集思广益、畅所欲言，提出真知灼见，共同创造亚洲文明和世界文明的美好未来！The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizationsh as a wide-ranging agenda, and I look forward to your keen perspectives and insights.By bringing our minds together, we will create an even better tomorrow forcivilizations in Asia and beyond.最后，预祝亚洲文明对话大会圆满成功！谢谢大家。To conclude, I wish this conference everysuccess.Thank you.

At a recent videoconference of members of the Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan both voiced dissatisfaction with the workings of the organization. Where does this leave the Russian-led bloc?

At a recent videoconference of members of the Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan both voiced dissatisfaction with the workings of the organization. Where does this leave the Russian-led bloc?

It has been two years since Nikol Pashinyan has come to power after the Velvet Revolution in Armenia. In this episode Adam catches up with Richard Giragosian to discuss how much has changed in the country and how much has not. They also discuss relations with Russia with Russia under Pashinyan, which seem to be heading towards a deeper crisis. Adam and Richard also explore how Armenia has managed the COVID-19 situation and try to understand what role, if any, other players like the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union have played in assisting Armenia in the crisis. Lastly, they look at the shifts in regional relations including with Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran as well as how the crisis has impacted the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.Become a Patron – we need only 3 more to reach our goal: www.patreon.com/talkeasterneurope Resources:Valentina Gevorgyan: “Armenia’s different legacy” New Eastern Europe. 6 March 2020: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/03/06/armenias-different-legacy/Follow New Eastern Europe’s ongoing coverage of the Coronavirus crisis in the Eastern Partnership: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/03/16/coronavirus-in-the-eastern-partnership-states/ Join us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/TalkEasternEurope An appeal to help New Eastern Europe – Purchase our latest issue! https://neweasterneurope.eu/an-appeal-to-help-new-eastern-europe-purchase-our-latest-issue/Music in the podcast "The Road Home" by Alexander Nakarada licensed under Creative Commons 4.0 Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4769-the-road-home. License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

There are growing doubts about the region’s European perspective following a series of postponements in the opening of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia and the announcement of reforms of the enlargement methodology. Although Montenegro and Serbia are forerunners in the process, membership is still a long way off, especially after EU member states largely dismissed the 2025 membership perspective. Download a PDF transcript here: https://cep.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Balancing-between-East-and-West.pdf This has resulted in a weakening of the EU’s gravitational force in the region, allowing space for other global and regional powers. The increase in economic cooperation between Serbia and China, as well as Serbia’s signing of a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, has made this especially clear. We have discussed these issues with our guest, ambassador Duško Lopandić, CEP Council member. This episode coincides with the publishing of annual ranking of top think tanks worldwide by The Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program by the University of Pennsylvania, where CEP regularly finds their place. CEP is ranked as the best think tank in the WB and among the top ten in Central and Eastern Europe.

We discuss what countries must join to make a viable Union. We work on policy making on this episode to strengthen economic benefits of membership in Eurasian Economic Union. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Changes in foreign trade—the backbone of economic prosperity for Putin's Russia—reflect the giant shifts in Moscow's relations with the outside world. Five years after the annexation of Crimea, Russia is moving away from the West and trading less with the EU, while increasing the share of its trade with Asia, in particular with China. Alex Gabuev, a senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, examines the implications of this for Russia, the EU, and the Eurasian Economic Union with podcast guests Tatiana Flegontova, deputy head of the Institute for International Economics and Finance, and Dr. Janis Kluge, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Changes in foreign trade—the backbone of economic prosperity for Putin’s Russia—reflect the giant shifts in Moscow’s relations with the outside world. Five years after the annexation of Crimea, Russia is moving away from the West and trading less with the EU, while increasing the share of its trade with Asia, in particular with China. Alex Gabuev, a senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, examines the implications of this for Russia, the EU, and the Eurasian Economic Union with podcast guests Tatiana Flegontova, deputy head of the Institute for International Economics and Finance, and Dr. Janis Kluge, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

  In EVN Report’s news roundup for the week of October 4: leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union member states meet in Yerevan; parliament passes a resolution to terminate the powers of the Chair of the Constitutional Court; Yerevan Municipality unilaterally terminates its contract with waste management company Sanitek and more.

Irina Busygina (Higher School of Economics) discusses how the Ukraine crisis affected Russia's role in the post-Soviet space and the future of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Iran threatens to ‘raze Tel Aviv and Haifa' Iran celebrated its 40th anniversary since the Islamic Revolution, Israeli officials are responding harshly against them, following new threats being levied towards the Jewish state and the West. #IRAN #THREATS __________________ 2. Israel & Iran both look to ink deals with EAEU Iran is poised to sign Free trade agreements with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union along with Israel.  #FREETRADEAGREEMENTS #EAEU ____________________ Guaido works to restore ties with Israel ILTV's Joy Gavillon joins us in the studio to speak about Juan Guaido offering to open a Venezuelan Embassy in Jerusalem “at the proper time.” #JUANGUAIDO #EMBASSY ___________________ Palestinian suspects arrested overnight Israeli Security Forces conducted yet another night of arrests in Hebron, as various attempted attacks and suspicious actions were prevented.  #ARRESTS #HAMAS ___________________ Remand against Arafat Irfaiya extended 10 days The Jerusalem Magistrate Court has now extended the remand for 29-year-old Arafat Irfaiya, by 10 days standing accused of raping and then murdering 19-year-old Israeli girl, Ori Ansbacher, in the context of a terrorist act. #ORIANSBACHER #ARAFATIRFAIYA ___________________ New ‘Yonatan Pre-Military Academy' Opens Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara were in Kibbutz Alumim near the Gaza Strip, for the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the ‘Yonatan' pre-military academy. #BIBI #PREMILITARYACADEMY ___________________ 2017-2018 patient satisfaction survey released The Israeli Health Ministry released a new report on hospital patient experience, found that at least 1 in every 10 patients were left in the hallway. #HOSPITALS #ISRAELHEALTHMINISTRY ___________________ (REP-D) Ilhan Omar under fire for Anti-Semitism Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar is apologizing this week, for again sharing Antisemitic remarks though her apology is being received as far too little too late. #ILHANOMAR #ANTISEMITISM ___________________ Bamba to bombard North American markets Famous Israeli peanut-snack prepares for major expansion agreement; peanut food allergies may hopefully begin to decline in the us as a result. #BAMBA #AMERICAN ___________________ FALAFEL EMOJI COMING SOON The Unicode Consortium has now announced their list of 230 new Emojis set for release in March 2019 and it includes the standard delicious Israeli street food: falafel! #FELAFEL #EMOJI                       ___________________ Hebrew word of the Day: BOTEN | בוטן = PEANUT Learn a New Hebrew word every day. Today's word is 'BOTEN' which means Peanut  #LEARNHEBREW   #HEBREWWORDOFDAY   #ILTVHEBREWWORDOFDAY  ___________________ The Weather Forecast Tonight should be mainly clear and cool, with a low of about fifty, or ten degrees Celsius. then Tomorrow you can expect sunny skies, and a slight rise in temperatures to a high of around sixty-six or nineteen degrees Celsius.  #ISRAELWEATHER   #ISRAELFORECAST See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See the video here: www.beltandroad.ventures/podcasts Ankur Shah (安然) is a Yenching Scholar at Peking University and National Geographic’s Young Explorer. He earned a degree in Chinese and Russian from the University of Edinburgh. During his studies, he spent 15 months living between Sichuan and St Petersburg and worked on the Trans-Siberian Express from Moscow to Vladivostok. Afterward, Ankur worked at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on the organization’s Silk Road Online Platform. The desire to explore saw Ankur partake in a 23,000km Silk Road expedition, sponsored by the National Geographic, driving from Venice to Xi'an. Ankur spent 4 months retracing the footsteps of Marco Polo across 16 Silk Road countries, researching China's Belt and Road initiative, interviewing key stakeholders and visiting 16 Belt and Road projects across Eurasia. Following the expedition, Ankur returned to London and worked as an analyst at a leading political risk consultancy in the firm's Former Soviet Union team. Now based in Beijing, Ankur is researching the Sino-Russian strategic partnership, and more specifically, how the BRI will collaborate and compete with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.  On this podcast, Ankur Shah shares his observations from his visits to Belt and Road Project’s sites and stories from his expedition following footsteps of Marco Polo along the Silk Road.

Many supranational organisations exist, be it the African Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, or the Association of Caribbean States. In this episode we will focus on just one of them: the European Union. Political parties all over its territory preach euroscepticism, which even resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave: the infamous Brexit. But what is the European Union, its law, and how did it develop in the first place? In this tenth episode of Maastricht Law Talk, Andrea Ott introduces us to the world of European Union Law. Andrea is professor of European Union External Relations Law at Maastricht University and member of CLEER. Before starting her current position, she held both assistant and associate professorships of EU Institutional Law. She also taught several courses on External Relations Law and European Union Law in general, both on a Master's and Bachelor's level. Before you start listening, check out our episodes on What is Law?, Constitutions, Brexit, (EU) Citizenship, and International Law. If you have listened to them already, even better!

Ukraine finds itself caught between Russia and the EU ahead of a summit next week in Vilnius, where the country’s president Viktor Yanukovich will have the opportunity to sign a major free trade deal and political association agreement with the EU. Russia has intensified pressure on the country recently not to sign the deal in favour of joining a Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. In this week’s podcast, Gideon Rachman is joined by Neil Buckley, Eastern Europe editor and Peter Spiegel, Brussels bureau chief to explain how the situation is likely to develop See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.