In his Oct. 1 address to the Valdai Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the need to create new institutions to stop the chaos that the current law of the jungle imposition has unleashed.
“The institutions that worked well after World War II no longer reflect the reality in the second quarter of this century. Is it possible to reform them successfully so that they conform to modern realities? The question remains open….
“Does this mean that we are now doomed to chaos? No, it is certainly premature to make such a judgement…. Clearly, the future of the world and every individual depends on how effectively risks are managed during the period of abrupt changes.
“The absence of universally recognized rules and a shared understanding of the principle of equal and indivisible security—or cancelling that principle altogether—often encourages selfish behavior. In some cases, it turns into aggressive attempts to secure unilateral advantages, aggravate the confusion and exploit it to promote one’s own interests. International politics provides examples of this almost every day. Every conceivable and inconceivable taboo is being violated. I will not go over them now. I think everyone in this room understands perfectly well what I am talking about….
“Moral and ethical constraints and basic standards of decency still matter, because respecting them creates at least a possibility to maintain some kind of dialogue. Conversely, the systematic failure to honor commitments, deception, turning communication into a farce and any substantive discussion into a propaganda exercise, and the blatant mockery and distortion of facts for the sake of fleeting gains destroy the very foundation of international coexistence….
“The interconnectedness of the world is here and is not going away. The might-makes-right principle sometimes appears to guide certain international actors who are convinced of their own military-political, economic and, as they think, moral exceptionalism. We know perfectly well from history that this never ends well….
