Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development

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Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) "is an international non-profit public policy organization registered in Belgrade, Serbia. Its mission is to provide high-quality, independent research and analysis, as well as offer innovative and practical recommendations with the aim of promoting sustainable development as the foundation of the UN post 2015-agenda, strengthening peaceful cooperation between states and responsiveness to changing global circumstances and advocating a more open, inclusive, prosperous and safe international system."[1]

Horizons is the Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development.

Vuk Jeremić is president.

'A Changing Balance of Power in the Emerging Multipolarity'

From the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) website:[2],[3]

"Moscow, December 2024 – Vuk Jeremic, President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), delivered a speech at the IX Moscow International Conference on Political Risks and Foresight at the MGIMO University titled “International Uncertainty 2025.” Speaking at the opening panel “A Changing Balance of Power in the Emerging Multipolarity,” Jeremić provided a comprehensive analysis of the ongoing geopolitical shifts and the challenges facing the global order.
Jeremić introduced the concept of a geopolitical recession, comparing it to economic recessions but highlighting its longer, more profound cycles that tend to last for decades. He emphasized that this era is marked by declining international cooperation and the inability of multilateral organizations to deliver solutions to pressing global issues.
“The rules of the game in international relations no longer reflect the balance of power among key players,” said Jeremić, calling attention to the dysfunction of existing multilateral frameworks. He outlined three potential responses to this crisis: reforming existing institutions, such as the United Nations, which he argued must begin by addressing India’s underrepresentation in the Security Council; building new institutions, citing the rise of alternative organizations like BRICS; and going to wars, which he described as an unfortunate but increasingly common trend.
“So your can try to fix institutions, build new ones, or go to war. And I think that we’re currently seeing all three being tried by different actors, with different amounts of energy being invested in them,” Jeremić noted.
Looking ahead, Jeremić stressed the importance of dialogue between global powers to resolve conflicts and build a more stable future. “A big hope for emerging from the geopolitical recession and ending conflicts lies in the forthcoming dialogue between Russia and the United States. This dialogue will face significant obstacles and will not be easy, but it remains our best chance and hope for global peace and stability,” Jeremić concluded.
The panel was moderated by Andrey Sushentsov, Dean of the School of International Relations at MGIMO University. Alongside Jeremić, it featured Dmitry Simes, Professor at MGIMO University; Major General S. B. Asthana, Director of the United Service Institution of India; Andrey Denisov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to China (2013–2022) and Senator of the Russian Federation; Alexander Dugin, Russian philosopher and political scientist; and many other distinguished scholars and academics.

Criticizing US for Russian Sanctions

CIRSD Board Member Jeffrey Sachs with CIRSD Vuk Jeremic

On February 1, 2023, CIRSD hosted a discussion titled "The Winter of Our Discontent" at the Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade, featuring CIRSD Board member Jeffrey Sachs, who criticized United States sanctions against Russia for their invasion of Ukraine as ineffective and against international law, noting they've had a "boomerang effect" with negative global impacts.

Jeffrey Sachs claimed that only countries representing 20% of the world's population supported these sanctions, while most countries, including China and India, continue trading with Russia, viewing the conflict as a proxy war between superpowers rather than an unprovoked attack. Jeffrey Sachs suggested peace in Ukraine could be achieved with Ukrainian military neutrality, Crimea remaining with Russia, and autonomy for Donbass. Vuk Jeremić, CIRSD President, likened the Ukraine conflict to the Korean War, indicating it could be the first direct clash in a new Cold War, characterized by less clear-cut global divisions.

From the CIRSD website in an article titled "Prof. Sachs: 'Sanctions against Russia ineffective and contrary to international law'":[4],[5]

"The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) organized a live discussion, titled “The Winter of Our Discontent”, at the Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade. The Center had the privilege to host one of the world’s brightest minds and most famous economists – Prof. Dr Jeffrey Sachs – who is also one of the esteemed authors of the latest edition of our foreign policy journal “Horizons”.
Professor of Columbia University in the USA, Jeffrey Sachs, said today in a discussion with the President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), Vuk Jeremić, that the US sanctions against Russia are against the international law, but that the past year has shown that they are also quite ineffective. The sanctions were supported by countries inhabited by only 20 percent of the planet's population, while the vast majority of the world refused to impose them on Russia.
"Sanctions against Russia not only did not cripple the Russian economy but had a 'boomerang effect'. They caused major negative global consequences, and Russia did not stop exporting around the world. Sanctions have greatly harmed Europe, because it no longer has access to cheap energy for industry," said Sachs.
He added that the sanctions were first introduced by the "Anglo-Saxon part of the world" - the US, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and then by the EU, Japan and South Korea and Singapore: "And that is it. The rest of the world has refused to join the sanctions because it wants to continue trading with both Russia and Ukraine. They do not want to be part of a conflict that they believe must be ended by negotiation. Most of the world, therefore, does not agree with the sanctions against Russia, nor does it agree with the idea that one country just decides on sanctions against another country and then, without any legal basis, tells others to stop trading with the country it imposed sanctions on. That cannot be done," said Sachs.
Sachs added that China, India, all Asian countries and Latin America trade with Russia, and they do not want to be part of a ‘proxy war’: "They don't see that war the way the Americans thought they would see it - as an unprovoked attack." "I have spoken with leaders around the world and they understand very well that this is a conflict between two superpowers, Russia and the US, and that not only one side is responsible," Sachs said.
Sachs pointed out that sanctions are "almost never successful in a geopolitical sense," and added: "It's a cheap and easy policy that America has been pursuing for years and it has failed over and over again. America often uses sanctions because there is no money allocated for them from the budget, but they can do a lot of damage and do not require public debate and the approval of the US Congress. The public doesn't really understand what it's about, but who cares. "Sanctions are introduced with the signature of the US president, which is different from sanctions approved by the United Nations," Sachs said.
Sachs stated that there is no doubt that "there is an ongoing war between America and Russia, even though Ukrainian citizens are being killed."
"Weapons, intelligence, war financing - everything is provided by America and its allies, so it's a war between America and Russia, and that's not good because they are nuclear superpowers." "Contrary to American propaganda, which claims that 'madman Vladimir Putin' started the war for no reason in February 2022, the facts show that the war started in February 2014," said Sachs. "The cause is, among other things, America's intention to introduce Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, which was said in 2008 by then US President George Bush." That was not wise, but very stupid," added Sachs.
Sachs reminded that the West's promise to Russia that NATO would not expand "even an inch to the east" after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that America had broken that promise: "There is no neutrality in the minds of Americans, only 'you are with us or you are against us'." In 2014, America helped overthrow former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who balanced between the US and Russia. Then the war started. By 2021, America has invested billions of dollars in arming Ukraine. "Fortification of eastern Ukraine lasted eight years with the help of American money, weapons and know-how," underlined Sachs.
Sachs stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the end of 2021 that the Americans had crossed all the red lines, and that Russia's red line was "stopping the expansion of NATO and setting up military bases on the border with Russia and weapons that can affect Russia ".
"The response from the White House was that there was nothing to discuss and that America was certainly not going to talk to Russia about NATO expansion, and then Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine." "The war broke out because of the escalating conflict of the previous 30 years and, unfortunately, a lot of cheating on the part of America," Sachs said.
Sachs stated that, in his opinion, it is possible to stop the war in Ukraine if Ukraine commits to being militarily neutral and not joining NATO, if Russia keeps Crimea and if the Donbass region in the east of Ukraine gets autonomy.
Jeremić pointed out that some historians and politicians compared the war in Ukraine with the Korean War of the 1950s in the previous year. "It was the first 'hot conflict' that broke out during the Cold War," Jeremić said.
Jeremić added that, if this logic is followed, the war in Ukraine could have been the first "hot conflict of the second cold war", in which the main belligerents early USA and China: "Viewed from Serbia, it seems that the division that is emerging in the world is not as binary as it seemed that it could be, because coalitions are emerging that could be tied to regional powers, but they could also cooperate with each other from time to time" concluded Jeremić.
"We are proud that our event caught the attention of more than 400 people. The gathering was attended by journalist Ljiljana Smajlovic, former ambassador to the FRY William Montgomery, writer Muharem Bazdulj, professors Slobodan Samardzic and Milo Lompar, president of the Democratic Party Zoran Lutovac, professor Bojan Pajtic, former governor of the NBS Dejan Soskic, former Serbian ambassador to the USA Ivan Vujacic, analyst Misa Durkovic, former ambassador of the FRY in Mexico Vesna Pesic, MPs, representatives of the diplomatic corps, journalists and public figures."

Team

Board of Advisors

From the CIRSD website as of December 14, 2024:[6]

Leadership Team

From the CIRSD website as of December 14, 2024:[7]

References

  1. ↑ LinkedIn CIRSD Description (accessed December 14, 2024)
  2. ↑ REFORM, REBUILD, OR RAMPAGE: Jeremić's three Rs for global turmoil (accessed December 13, 2024)
  3. ↑ Archive Link REFORM, REBUILD, OR RAMPAGE: Jeremić's three Rs for global turmoil (accessed December 13, 2024)
  4. ↑ Prof. Sachs: “Sanctions against Russia ineffective and contrary to international law” (accessed December 14, 2024)
  5. ↑ Jeffrey Sachs; Vuk Jeremić | Horizons discussion - The Winter of Our Discontent (accessed December 14, 2024)
  6. ↑ Board of Advisors (accessed December 14, 2024)
  7. ↑ Team (accessed December 14, 2024)
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