BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 28. On September 28, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club began, focusing on the theme “Responsibility for the Future: Limits of the Possible, or Limitless Possibilities?”
The Club’s flagship conference will run through October 1 and bring together 120 participants from 40 countries, including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Canada, China, Malaysia, the UAE, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Türkiye, France, Switzerland, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Japan.
Last year, participants at the Valdai Forum discussed the factors that enable states to maintain stability amid constant change. Today, the organizers believe that despite the crisis in the global order and the unprecedented escalation of conflicts, it is important to continue analyzing what the future might look like in order to be able to influence the process of its formation.
The theme of responsibility for the future has been central and has shaped the agenda of Valdai events throughout the year. Participants in the Valdai Forum will continue to discuss the manageability and predictability of international affairs against the backdrop of a crisis in multilateral institutions. The organizers invite participants in the 23rd Annual Meeting to examine the potential consequences of escalating military and political tensions, the restructuring of the system of trade and economic relations, and the introduction of new technologies, as well as to discuss the responsibility of states and their role in the future world order.
The session will open with a presentation of a specially prepared report titled “Keep Calm: The State and Responsibility for the Future.” “The Valdai Club’s annual report in the turbulent and unsettling year of 2026—on How to Stop Worrying and Love the Disorder,” the authors write.
The session’s program includes the opening, the report presentation, nine thematic sessions, a special session, and an open discussion. In addition, participants in the Valdai will, as is traditional, meet with representatives of the Russian government: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Maksim Oreshkin.
