On December 18, an expert conference entitled "Intellectual Clubs of Eurasian Countries at the Crossroads of Domestic and Foreign Agenda" was held in Moscow. Participants — leading analysts, scholars, and representatives of integration structures — concluded that the region requires a coordinated intellectual strategy to become a center of power in the emerging multipolar world.
Opening the discussion, Yuri Shuvalov, Head of the CSTO Secretariat's Intellectual Clubs, stated that Russia and its partners have reached a decisive stage.
"We are entering a phase when the old world order has been completely destroyed, and a new one has not yet been formed — and it is precisely now that the role of expert dialogue becomes critically important," he emphasized.
Dmitry Novikov, Leading Researcher at the Institute of China and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that building a Greater Eurasia is not only about geography but also about forming a community based on shared interests. Eduard Solovyov, Director of the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, added that, in the face of increased risks, it is experts who must seek ways to make global processes more predictable.
GR-Group founder Andrey Gromov criticized contemporary neocolonial practices and proposed a solution.
"Virtually any economic benefits and preferences today are provided from outside, and in a package with reforms that often signify a breach of the social contract between the state and society. New concepts are awaited in all developing countries, especially those that continue to be subject to the harshest colonial pressure. We must act more broadly and openly, promoting our position and bold ideas," Gromov stated.
Following the conference, participants agreed on the need to move from declarations to substantive analytical work on shaping the Eurasian partnership, developing our own intellectual base, and strengthening security in Greater Eurasia.