On October 14-15, Prof. Dr. Valery Konyshev, Chief Researcher, Head of the Chair of Comparative Political Studies at RANEPA St. Petersburg, participated in The 2nd International «Raisina – Middle East» Conference which took place in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

The conference brought together politicians and experts from Europe, Asia, and Africa, and was focused on security issues in light of the crisis in U.S.-Iranian relations and the obstruction of maritime shipments of energy resources and other goods through the Persian Gulf.

In his presentation, RANEPA St. Petersburg expert noted that there is currently no consensus among the states of the region on how to resolve the political crisis and ensure the shipping security in the Persian Gulf. Representatives from many countries, including the UAE and India, hope that it may eventually be possible to return to international cooperation involving the United States and European nations. The complication, however, is that the West’s vision for such cooperation entails abandoning ties with Russia. Yet, the BRICS+ member states remain committed to developing the North-South transport corridor that runs through the Persian Gulf — an objective that requires maintaining constructive relations with Russia.

Prof. Dr. Valery Konyshev’s conference presentation was prepared as part of The Russian Science Foundation project No. 25-18-00379 “Modeling Arctic Cooperation within BRICS: Opportunities and Challenges for Russia in an Era of Global Turbulence” under organizational support from RANEPA St. Petersburg Research Department.