Month: May 2022

The international conference “Europe- Asia: Dialogue of Civilizations” has ended today.Following the results of the two-day conference (May 26-27, 2022), the “Perm Declaration” was unanimously adopted at the final plenary session, which can be viewed here.

“EUROPE-ASIA: DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS” – PERM DECLARATION

(The Final Document in English)

On May 26-27, 2022 in the mountains. Perm, at the geographical border of Europe and Asia, the international conference “Europe-Asia: Dialogue of Civilizations” was held. It was held on the initiative of the Russian parliamentary “Eurasian Dialogue” with the support of the Perm Region and the assistance of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A total of more than one hundred people from 20 European and Asian countries took part in this event in full-time and part-time (in video communication format) forms.

Welcoming the organizers and guests of the first Perm International Conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that “the well-being of the future of all mankind is directly linked to the establishment of a mutually respectful partnership between representatives of different civilizations, cultures, and faiths.” This thesis was fully shared in the speeches at the plenary session by the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India, China, and Syria, representing the oldest civilizations of Eurasia that have existed for many decades.

Participants from Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Serbia, France and a number of other European countries, as well as their colleagues from the Middle East, Central and East Asia, and the ASEAN countries, emphasized the crucial role of Russia and the entire Russian world in the development of European civilization. They emphasized the exceptional contribution of the multinational Russian people to the victory over fascism in the 20th century and the struggle of the Russian Federation against any manifestations of Nazism, neo-Nazism, racism, and neo-colonialism in the new 21st century.

The Conference condemned any manifestations of Russophobia and barbaric actions recently carried out in a number of NATO member countries against Russian citizens, Russian culture, representatives of Russian science, education, art, and sports, undertaken by the “collective West” and its satellites. At the same time, Moscow’s special contribution to the formation and development of integration processes in the vast expanses of the Eurasian continent was noted.    

In their speeches, the forum participants shared the idea expressed by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, on May 26, 2022, that the great Eurasian partnership would become a center that would interest many.    

Russian senators and deputies of the State Duma, diplomats and experts from the states of the Eurasian continent considered a number of topical and important issues necessary for establishing and developing broad, respectful and equal interaction between representatives of different cultures, ideological and religious views, national traditions, and political systems during the plenary sessions and panel discussions.

In particular, such important topics as the political and spiritual aspects of the broad Eurasian dialogue were touched upon. The results of the five festival marathons “From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean”, which took place from 2014 to 2021 on the initiative of the Eurasian Dialogue with the participation of UNESCO, were separately summarized, each of which was a good platform for communication between representatives of the most diverse civilizations of Europe and Asia.

The issues of preserving the intangible cultural heritage were particularly discussed at the forum. In this regard, the importance of events held within the framework of the year 2022 declared by the President of the Russian Federation – the Year of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia was noted.  

A briefing for political parties, public organizations and journalists from Greater Eurasia was held in the format of a video conference with the participation of members of the leadership of the relevant commissions of the General Council of the All-Russian Political Party United Russia. The importance of uniting international efforts, including on the inter-party line, in the interests of protecting traditional spiritual, cultural and family values in order to create an appropriate international alliance was noted.

Bilateral and multilateral consultations of its participants and guests took place on the sidelines of the Perm Forum. The key events of the Conference were broadcast on the Internet and actively covered by Russian and foreign media.

The participants of the Perm Conference drew attention to the fact that lasting peace and security are impossible without respect for the principles of peaceful coexistence of States with different political systems, indivisibility of security, non-interference in the sovereign affairs of States, and equal and mutually beneficial cooperation. It was noted that any attempts by anyone to declare themselves the indisputable and sole leader, the hegemon, to impose their own rules and values on others are counterproductive.

The Perm Conference revealed significant potential and a broad base of support for approaches that make it possible to come to solutions that take into account the diversity of opinions as much as possible, even on the most complex issues.

The participants recommended continuing the work that has been started, including within the framework of the sixth international festival marathon scheduled for 2023, which is proposed to be held according to the SCO+ formula, involving key Asian countries more widely in its preparation and holding, which have undoubtedly contributed to world civilization for thousands of years. There was also unanimous support for the proposal to hold the Perm Conference on Inter-Civilizational Dialogue within Greater Eurasia every two years and to assign the functions of its permanent secretariat to the Russian parliamentary Eurasian Dialogue, the tenth anniversary of which was also widely celebrated in May 2022.

The organizers, participants and guests of the international conference expressed their gratitude to the Governor of the Perm Territory, D. Makhonin, the regional government, and the residents of Perm for their assistance in its preparation and successful holding.

Download the archive of photos from the events at the link.

Over the millennia, the Eurasian continent has become the birthplace of almost all terrestrial civilizations. Many of them have long since sunk into oblivion, but in the 21st century, Greater Eurasia is a common home for a number of civilizations that have developed over the past centuries. It is obvious that the development of vehicles, communication technologies, the interdependence of trade and economic ties and many other processes, which are often referred to as globalization, noticeably blur the historical civilizational boundaries of the peoples of our continent, but these processes are far from uniform and not always unambiguous.

An analysis of long-standing conflict zones in the space from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean allows us to see signs of what some experts prefer to call a “clash of civilizations.” At the same time, it is noted that each such conflict can be resolved or significantly weakened through a respectful, equal inter-civilizational dialogue. Conversely, a potentially contentious situation can, alas, be quickly transferred to a phase of irreconcilable protracted confrontation.
The first of these approaches, for all its objective difficulties, usually has more visible advantages than disadvantages. A nominal approach of this kind fits into the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different political systems, indivisibility of security (when the security of some countries should not be ensured at the expense of the security of others), non-interference from outside in the sovereign affairs of states, etc.

At the same time, such approaches are noteworthy that would help create a kind of symphony of cultures of all peoples originally living on the expanses of the Eurasian continent in the broadest sense of the word culture.

It is obvious that the inter-civilizational dialogue is multifaceted. It involves not only discussing issues of language, culture, art, and religious topics. There are features of interaction between states with different political, economic, technological structures, ethnic composition, historical traditions, etc. These features should be taken into account in one way or another within the framework of a constructive dialogue of civilizations, which does not involve boss–subordinate or teacher-student interaction. Moreover, it cannot and should not be about fitting everyone to a certain standard, established once and for all, and even in a one-sided and indisputable form.
The international conference in Perm is designed to provide an overview of existing approaches to inter-civilizational dialogue, taking into account the circumstances of a dynamically changing world, in the framework of plenary sessions, as well as sectional discussions.:

• “Spiritual aspects of the Eurasian dialogue”;
• “Dialogue of Civilizations: a political dimension”;
• “Preservation of intangible heritage in the 21st century: modern challenges”;
• “Lessons from the festival marathons “From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean” 2014-2021″.

The latter topic relates to the long-term project of the Russian parliamentary “Eurasian Dialogue”, which is a series of international cultural events, usually held every two years under the auspices of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, with the assistance of the Russian Foreign Ministry, our foreign colleagues, including UNESCO.

The Perm Conference was planned and is being held without reference to specific current international events. Its organizers pay attention to the socio-cultural nature of the proposed discussion without unnecessarily politicizing certain aspects of the issues under discussion, since the latter requires the conduct of separate focused discussions with the participation of relevant experts and materials.

The program of the event.

“EUROPE-ASIA: DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

MAY 26 (THU.)