Стр. 32 - V

Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Author : E. Astakhov
Professor, Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Russian Federation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary; Candidate of Science (History)
IN THE 21ST CENTURY, core political, social, economic, and
- what is more dangerous - cultural and moral values have
plunged into a systemic crisis. The claims of the West to the top
civilizational status don't hold water any longer. Moreover, it is
obviously losing its dominant economic positions.
In this new context, assimilation into the Euro-Atlantic version
of proposed "global civilization" hardly makes any sense. That
civilization prioritizes technological progress as a means of
boosting consumption. This principle is put at the basis of a
macroeconomic model that essentially is a set of former mon-
etarist recipes and means domination of financial services over
the real economy.
As regards the so-called basic human values, it's a controversial issue what they should be. Un-
doubtedly, basic human values are essential, but only as long as they don't obliterate the identity
of any individual culture, meaning culture in a broad sense - traditions, historical memory, art,
literature, perception of the world, and the material and intellectual achievements of many gen-
erations.
Russia is experiencing difficult times today with increasingly deep social, economic, political, cul-
tural, and religious divisions. The global civilization idea has been embraced in some quarters of
Russian society.
What the country needs is not consumption slogans but a project for national development, de-
velopment that is not horizontal but vertical and has not only technological but primarily spiritual
aspects.
Russia's leadership, while not refusing to cooperate with the West, has adopted a multi-vector
policy, focusing on Eurasian integration projects and taking part in creating new global economic
and political centers.
Russia's eastward turn shouldn't lead to any considerable scaling down of its relations with the
West. Moreover, there are reasons to expect that this reorientation will persuade our Western
partners to revise their geopolitical calculations and restore their economic ties with Russia.
The Russian World naturally attaches great importance to principles such as human rights, civil
freedoms, and material comfort and well-being. But, unlike the West, the Russian World does
not consider them core values.
The Role of Russia in the Dialogue Between Civilizations