Russian Thinktank Head: Russia and China Must Get the U.S. On Board for the Needed New Financial Order

PRESS RELEASE

Russian Thinktank Head: Russia and China Must Get the U.S. On Board for the Needed New Financial Order

Aug. 23, 2016 (EIRNS)—"Russia and China should work together within the G20 framework to secure a new international financial order," and, hard though it may be, we must get United States to come along, too, Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), told Xinhua today.

Kortunov does not speak as a thinktanker commenting from the sidelines. Xinhua describes the RIAC as "a Moscow-based foreign policy think tank close to the Russian Foreign Ministry." Indeed, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs the Board of Trustees of this "academic and diplomatic think tank" established in 2010 pursuant to a presidential decree, to "operate as a link between the state, scholarly community, business, and civil society in an effort to find foreign policy solutions to complex conflict issues," according to RIAC’s own account.

Kortunov told Xinhua that the international financial and economic system must be upgraded, because "the longer those reforms are postponed, the higher the risk of new crises and instability is in the world economy." Thus, the importance of China’s initiatives to create new financial and economic institutions, such as the AIIB, in which Russia will be an active participant, he said. Kortunov also noted that the G20 came into being in 1999 out of recognition of the need for "a more representative and more democratic mechanism, including China, India and other non-Western states."

Then the key section:

"‘If today Beijing and Moscow offer their concept of stability to the international community, it is not just empty words, but proposals based on many successful experiences,’ he said.

"The Russian expert said Moscow and Beijing have to work with Washington as with ‘a complex, and sometimes unpredictable partner,’ without which it would be impossible to address many international issues.

"In his opinion, after unsuccessful attempts to build a unipolar world, the United States is now forced to revise its ambitions, though reluctant to abandon its claims to global leadership.

"As a result, he said, the United States has displayed inconsistency and a gap between rhetoric and practice in foreign policies.

"‘Both China and Russia should consistently seek common ground with Washington, and avoid crises without making concessions on matters of principle,’ Kortunov suggested."