Sovereign globalism

Dmitry Medvedev proclaimed Russia's claims to global economic leadership

Russia has the opportunity, and most importantly, the desire to become a new world leader . “Understanding our responsibility for the fate of the world, we want to participate in the formation of new rules of the game not because of the notorious “imperial ambitions,” but because we have official capabilities and resources here,” said President Dmitry Medvedev. His speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum turned out to be unexpectedly harsh. In some ways, it even resembled the famous speech of his predecessor Vladimir Putin at the beginning of 2007 at the international security conference in Munich . The only difference is that Mr. Medvedev focused on fighting an economically “unipolar” world, rather than the political costs of such unipolarity.

American economic hegemony in the world led to a situation close to the Great Depression. "The idea that one state can take on the role of a global government has turned out to be an illusion," Mr. Medvedev said. His speech opened the plenary session of the forum entitled “National Economic Interests and Global Governance Institutions.” Today's problems of the world economy, such as the financial crisis, rising prices for natural resources and food, and the increasing frequency of global disasters, clearly show that the system of global governance institutions in its current form does not meet modern challenges, the head of state said.

The presidential speech, filled with tough rhetoric, showed that, at least in relations with the outside world, Dmitry Medvedev is already ready to act very decisively. The problem of Western countries, according to Mr. Medvedev, is associated with growing economic selfishness. “Behind it is sometimes a tougher ideology - economic nationalism, in which pragmatic interests are replaced by political considerations,” the president said. “Underestimation of risks by the largest financial companies, combined with the aggressive financial policy of the largest economy in the world (American - Ed. ) led not only to corporate losses. Unfortunately, most people on the planet have become poorer. And this is clearly noticeable not only in economies underdeveloped countries, but also in the economies of the most advanced countries," the president said.

Western officials who spoke after the Russian president, including US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, did not give any comments on this matter. Perhaps the Russian leader's statements came as a surprise to them. They gave prepared reports that the depth of the financial crisis should not be exaggerated.

Dmitry Medvedev has already prepared a rough plan of action to transform Russia into one of the global political and economic leaders of the world.

First of all, Russia, as a new leader with its richest reserves of raw materials, will begin to solve energy problems . Liberalization of the Russian gas market and reduction of taxation in the oil sector will be important steps to stabilize the global energy market, Mr. Medvedev is confident. According to him, the harmonious development of energy markets is possible only by using all possible alternative energy sources, creating a favorable investment climate and ensuring transparency in this area.

“However, in practice, the emphasis was placed only on expanding biofuel production, and now we know what the consequences are,” the president said.

However, in the struggle for leadership, Russia intends to use not only its reserves of raw materials. Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow will turn into a global financial center in the coming years, and the ruble will become the leading regional reserve currency. The corresponding action plan will be adopted in the near future.

Russian business will also have to come to the forefront of the world economy. “Another priority is a more active integration of Russia into the global capital market. We have already achieved some success in attracting capital. And now we have begun to stimulate investment by Russian companies abroad. I would especially like to note that our investments are not speculative or aggressive in nature.” , - said Mr. Medvedev.

However, Russia is still not going to solve all the world's problems alone - in the image and likeness of the United States, which is criticized by the Kremlin. “I believe that Russia would be a convenient platform for starting a discussion. In this regard, I propose to hold a representative international conference with the participation of heads of the largest financial companies, leading financial analysts and scientists this year,” said President Medvedev.

Dmitry Medvedev will lead the country to the role of world leader with open eyes - that is, one must assume, honestly and objectively assessing the situation within Russia itself. He recalled Winston Churchill's famous aphorism that the problems associated with victory are always more pleasant than the problems associated with defeat, but they are also immeasurably more difficult.

Vera SITNINA, St. Petersburg