A panel discussion titled "Culture and the Building of Civilization. On Defining Culture's Goals" took place at the St. Petersburg International United Cultures Forum. The discussion was held within the thematic section "Traditional Values as the Foundation of Cultural Dialogue".
The discussion was curated by Ilya Kuzmenkov, Editor in Chief of Radio Vera. Participants included Alexey Zhuravsky, Deputy Head of the Presidential Directorate for Public Projects of the Russian Federation; Simeon Tomachinsky, literary scholar and Associate Professor in the Department of Philology at the Moscow Theological Academy; Alexey Kozyrev, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at Lomonosov Moscow State University; Vladimir Legoyda, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media and Professor at MGIMO and Sirius University; Nygusie Kassae Wolde Mikael, Professor in the Department of Theory and History of International Relations at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba; and Evgeny Knyazev, theater educator and Rector of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute.
The speakers focused on the theme of traditional values, which has become one of the main topics on the state agenda. "From the standpoint of a state that upholds traditional values, we are seeing a renaissance and a return to traditional values across the globe. We also see that countries that embrace traditional values are beginning to unite. BRICS and the SCO are, on one hand, economic and political institutions. Yet in essence they bring together countries that profess traditional values," noted Alexey Zhuravsky.
Representing two cultures, Ethiopian and Russian, Nygusie Kassae Wolde Mikael emphasized the importance of relations among kindred peoples and states, among civilizations and cultures: "In my view, if it were not for Russia, the Russian Empire, there would be no Ethiopia as a state. Ethiopia is the only country that fought against European colonialism. And recalling the assistance of the Russian Empire, thanks to the participation of Russian officers and soldiers, Ethiopia defeated the colonialists."
Reflecting on the role of culture in the dialogue of civilizations today, Vladimir Legoyda stressed that "in the ultimate sense all culture is an attempt to answer the question of what it means to be human, because people are the only beings who create culture."
"The most frightening thing for any civilization today, for any culture, for any person," Legoyda added, "is when it is not lived through, when you do not spend yourself in soul, when you act formally, when you endlessly repeat 'traditional values' without understanding what you are saying."