A Global Alternative to Western Dominance: The Contours of the Future

13 September 2023

A Global Alternative to Western Dominance: The Contours of the Future

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Most countries across the globe are striving to attain multipolarity and dialogue between civilizations

“The era of multipolarity is coming. Just a couple of years ago, I remember seeing how Western figures winced when they heard this. I remember seeing the faces of Russian political scientists who said that it was perhaps just one alternative scenario. But no. It is not an alternative – it’s a reality. And this process will gather momentum,” Maria Zakharova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Director, Department of Information and the Press, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

“The point is that a multipolar world implies a set of civilization states. It is no accident that the new foreign policy concept emphasizes this term. The President emphasized it in his speech. Russia is a civilization state. That means that it must attain sovereignty and decolonize itself right to the end. <...> All processes related to building civilization states [are occurring – ed.] in a complex world. <...> Fundamental rules will shift: there will be no one hegemon, one dominant force, but a group of civilizations which <...> can engage in dialogue. They should strive for peace. <...> BRICS is becoming a genuine embodiment of the multipolar club, and the expansion of this club is a process which is already under way,” Alexander Dugin, Philosopher, Doctor of Political Sciences, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Public Figure.

Russia possesses substantial potential in relation to building a new and just world order

“We are not positioning ourselves in opposition to anybody. We endeavour to participate in a union that works in the interests of countries willing to work with us. It is not our aim to defeat the West. On the contrary, the development of our countries, both individually and as a group implies, to put it mildly, the destruction of the world which held sway for a long time. The dollar, say, is just one element of the global monetary system’s dominance. The destruction of the dollar’s monopoly is not our aim, it is an objective process,” Aleksandr Babakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

“The policy of global domination has already become really rather tiresome, and all countries are increasingly beginning to wake up to it and resist it. <...> The world order is changing at such a speed that it is difficult to keep track of it. And that’s not just true of ordinary people, but even institutions specializing in international politics. We are all well aware that the boat is rocking, and we need to understand what we can offer the entire world when it rocks in our direction. We need to be interesting and essential. We already are interesting and essential,” Roman Mironov, Senior Producer, International Multimedia Press Center of the Rossiya Segodnya Media Group.

PROBLEMS

The collective West’s ambitions to achieve global dominance

“With the emergence of a BRICS currency and the accession of several countries, we want to ensure that economic processes are safe from financial speculation, which could lead to revenue being withdrawn in favour of a limited group of countries, and primarily the US. We all know that real GDP is 5% the size of the fictitious capital that exists in the world. That is a huge mass which holds sway over the global economy,” Aleksandr Babakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

“Where is democracy? Look at what’s being done in America and other countries today. Human rights have degenerated and become a mere instrument. In the hands of the Westerners, they have become a weapon, no more. And that is to say nothing of the principle of non-interference, of respecting other countries’ political systems,” Andrey Denisov, First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

A deliberate distortion of reality and information attacks by the West

“Much progress was made to create a modern, just world which would be home to people from different countries who would be friends, start families, and later remain in our country. However, a great deal of this work has been neutralized due to the substantial pressure of sanctions. The West does not notice these successes – everything it does is with the aim of neutralizing them as much as possible. We have 12,000 young people living at our campus in what are excellent conditions for students. <...> But what are we seeing in the media? Just that there aren’t many places, and that the shops close at 22:00. <...> When the special military operation began, we saw mass hysteria in the foreign media. Everyone wrote how students need to urgently leave Russia. In response, our foreign students wrote on social media that things were good here, that nothing is happening, that there are no problems, that they feel safe, and that they won’t be going anywhere,” Boris Korobets, Rector, Far Eastern Federal University; Member of the Bureau of the Coordinating Council for Youth Affairs in the Scientific and Educational Spheres of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for Science and Education.

“Information attacks are happening on social media and in mass culture. We know that their main target is young people who will shape the agenda in the future,” Roman Mironov, Senior Producer, International Multimedia Press Center of the Rossiya Segodnya Media Group.

“The West has fetishized its vision of unipolarity, and does not see what is going on in the real world. We, the West says, are right by definition. And if you oppose our approaches, it follows that you oppose peace,” Andrey Denisov, First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

SOLUTIONS

Increasing resistance to the forcible domination of the West

“We have never supported the idea of isolation. We have always been against unlawful unilateral actions. We have always been in favour of cooperation, partnership and alliances, with mutual respect and consideration for one another’s interests lying at the heart of things. <...> We are talking about resisting forcible domination, resisting the forcible imposition of a world view on others. This is particularly true of those who have long moved ahead, and the insinuations that there are those who are exceptional and those who are excluded – we are against this,” Maria Zakharova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Director, Department of Information and the Press, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

“A most unpleasant situation is unfolding within international organizations. <...> That is because the Westerners are capturing more and more high ground, including in the UN. It is therefore necessary to somehow present common, unified positions. We need to present a front which is based not on discipline, as per the Western approach, but on being aware of our national interests, of common sense, of the logic of surviving in today’s world,” Andrey Denisov, First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

More attentively studying the processes behind a multipolar world and the Western world’s influence on them

“We simply need to discover multipolarity, shape it, study it, and live within it. In any case, this is better than a world of diktat, than a world which is not free, than subordination to something which is not good (I will not go as far as to say ‘evil’),” Maria Zakharova, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Director, Department of Information and the Press, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

“The collective West as a source of domination is a very serious phenomenon. <...> It is important to study the West along the lines of what me and my colleagues provisionally call westernology. Basically, the West should be viewed as a subject of study, rather than something that infiltrates us and predetermines our point of view. <...> We must turn the West into a subject of study, and as such, it has the right to exist. This is a crucial step towards decolonization and multipolarity,” Alexander Dugin, Philosopher, Doctor of Political Sciences, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Public Figure.

“The idea emerged of developing a master’s programme at the Diplomatic Academy entitled Hybrid and Information Wars: Management and Security Issues. We plan to use this programme to lay the foundations for how to work in the information domain, particularly in the context of a global confrontation between Russia and the West. <...> We need to make sure that we will have trained professionals in the future capable of working in an active and effective manner in this field,” Oleg Karpovich, Vice-Rector for Research, Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Doctor of Law, Doctor of Political Science, Professor; Member of the Expert Council under the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for Science and Higher Education.

For more information, visit the Roscongress Foundation’s Information and Analytical System at roscongress.org/en

A Global Alternative to Western Dominance: The Contours of the Future

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