Speech by Grigory Yavlinsky at the conference ‘The Uses of Power: Legitimacy, Democracy, and the Rewriting of the International Order’, held April 14–16, 2026, at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican.
First of all, I would like to express my respect and gratitude for this extremely important conference to Sister Helen Alford, O.P. (President), His Eminence Peter Turkson (Chancellor), Prof. Ana Marta González (Coordinator of the Plenary Session), and, of course, I would like to express my personal respect and gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for this conference and especially my solidarity and support for his position on global events. Please accept my gratitude for my personal invitation.
The theme of the Assembly (“The uses of power: Legitimacy, Democracy and the Rewriting of the International Order”) and the Concept Note are very important and extremely relevant at the moment. In my opinion, under the current circumstances it’s difficult to imagine, who in the world could have organized such an Assembly.
It says a lot that The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences of Vatican City has decided to discuss the most important issues facing humanity, which the absolute majority of current current politicians do not know how to address.
Thank you very much.
I will try to share with the esteemed audience my thoughts on: What is happening in the world? Why? What should we do? Or one can say: Why is there a problem of Legitimacy? Where is Democracy heading? What could be the New International Order? For example, in Europe?
My message will consist of four points and conclusion — two points about current critical social and political issues and two points about possible solutions.
Point number one: The end of an era
The bloody confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the critical escalation of the situation in the Middle East, growing political difficulties and possibly the wide-ranging political crisis in Europe, the politics of the US President Donald Trump and very possible significant changes in the global economic order with extremely uncertain prospects — all these factors together with a substantial decline of the fundamental principles in the value of human life, rights and dignity, draw a line on the world order that had existed for almost eight decades.
It seems that global era is ending together with its institutions, structures and models of political behavior.
It would be a dangerous mistake to treat all these events as a natural development following on from the logical departure of an old system that had served its time.
We are witnessing the destruction of the system of nuclear arms control treaties created in the second half of the last century and following the risks to the survival of the non-proliferation regime.
Today our time on this earth is underpinned by uncertainty, unpredictability and misunderstanding of any possible future even in the medium or short term.
In such an environment, political actions are driven not by a vision of the future, but instead by the inertia of the past and commitment to certain models that political leaders declare to be true.
As the world drop more and more into chaos, existing political elites are trying to adjust in some way or other. The majority of them have identified what they consider to be the solution: to build up military forces. This is viewed as a guarantee of security not only by the leaders waging (ведущие) wars today, but also by almost every single participant in the political process.
The use of force has begun to be perceived as the key factor of current international relations.
The danger of a real big war, which we can strongly underline, will almost immediately become nuclear, is being irresponsibly ignored and hidden behind short-term political interests that are of no comparison in terms of their significance.
In actual fact, in the current reality any attempts to secure the best position, acquire an advantage leveraged by force in today’s global disorder, imply here the search for the best cabin on the “Titanic” as it is about to hit the iceberg. Inside the ship such actions might well be appeared rational, but what will be the outcome?
If all current obvious political trends continue in the same directions, new tragedies are inevitable.
Point number two: New human-threatening realities — Digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence
The crisis facing mankind today is intensifying and is underlined by the explosive development of artificial intelligence. The moment in time when technologies cross the lines and oppose human reason is not far off. And we need to understand that.
Should we agree that freedom should not be limited by democracy, as the leaders of new technology production say?
And on this basis accept that our prospects and the prototype of the future of mankind have already been described and formed by the technological futurist pictures of artificial intelligence, new technologies and Big Data and the entrepreneurs behind them who are seeking to become influential politicians very soon?
A strict condition is set and declared: in the new reality only the community (society, country, state) which gains supremacy or even monopoly in advance technologies — will survive and prosper.
The US artificial intelligence action plan, which was published in July 2025 (Winning the Race), is a practical step in the path to merging the views of the technocrats with the political administration and forming a technological oligarchy. Allies, including European countries, are assigned in this plan the role of users of American technologies.
De facto we are witnessing a new arms race: high technology is being considered first and foremost not as a way to improve people’s lives, but instead as a battlefield for survival with an irreconcilable (непримиримым) competitor.
Politics is being transformed into populism which is quickly turning into okhlo-populism, combining a focus on the moods of the moment in social networks and the desires of online crowds users with satisfaction of the interests of narrow elite groups.
Thus, democratic procedures are being used to form regimes which rely to a significant extent on the straightforward manipulation of the public at large through digital technologies and social networks.
The gap between the legality of power and its legitimacy will increase more and more and become a serious problem going forward.
New online digital technologies are hiding social and psychological tyranny, legitimizing it basically , and are implementing in practice under the hidden political monopolisation of autocratic state structures deadly dangerous populism where the “will of the people” becomes a victim of online manipulation and disinformation.
This is one of the characteristics of political entropy, a new systemic phenomenon of modern civilisation: adapting politics to the new situation through the erosion of its substance.
Dialogue, compromise, real consultative processes bowing out of international politics. They are being replaced by extreme and mounting mutual distrust, the fight for economic resources, and moves closer and closer to outright confrontation.
The development and expansion of digital technologies and artificial intelligence is an objective process. We cannot become Luddites and try to reverse or stop it.
There are many extremely useful results from new technologies and artificial intelligence. But, as it is often the case, there is another side. It is very politically influential and extremely dangerous.
However, if new technologies continue to develop in the same direction and real socio-political problems are replaced and increasingly take a backseat, humans may find themselves on the sidelines of modernity.
And this all leads to the key problem — the process of devaluation of the significance of human life, freedom and dignity.
Point number three: A policy based on the values of the Human Soul
Soon people in a number of countries will want to find a way to extricate themselves from the political chaos.
Traditionally, this could assume the form of a demand for “order”, for the election of a real “Führer”. It is easy to find such analogies in history.
Finding another way out of political chaos depends on understanding “where we want to go and how” — we must restore vision on what should be ahead and persistently strive to lay the road to the creation of sustainable institutions of the future.
There are more and more grounds for assuming that the only way out of today’s populist ochlocracy does not imply the separation of the true and real Church and the new type of state, but on the contrary, their systematic convergence in the context based on the goal where human life and dignity take absolute precedence, together with a full and unconditional subordination of information technology and social networks to individuals and society.
In my opinion, the state must stop being perceived as an instrument used to commit violence against, suppress and manipulate people.
This is truly possible if we understand for the modern world the right relationship between the Church and the State — they should focus on the human being, his and her soul, life, and freedom.
This should be a tool constructed to preserve individual life, his or her freedoms and creativity. This should reflect the achievement of the grand design, and this design must be organically connected to the individual.
We need to reflect seriously the creation of a state where the individual is the cornerstone of the economy, politics and international relations.
This means that we do not limit an individual’s prospects to everyday basic requirements, but instead accept man as the image and likeness of God, whose plan must be revealed and developed by all available means.
Allowing technologies to conquer the individual must be prohibited at all costs. The goal should be to guarantee that the second half of the 21st century becomes the age of the individual, his or her freedoms and soul, and not the era of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. This should serve as the basis for truly functional state in very special relations with the Church, political and social institutions. While this will be extremely hard to achieve, it is at the same time absolutely vital.
Point number four: New Europe
Fortunately, the world is a very large and diverse place. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to talk about the entire world from a perspective, especially now. Therefore, in continuation of the topic of the Human at the Center of Politics, I will talk about Europe.
We can only get out from chaos if we understand initially what is the desirable, or to be more accurate, the strategic perspective that is required objectively to to preserve life and save people’s dignity, in other words to save mankind.
Accordingly, we need to understand the meaning and image of the future that we must aspire (стремиться) to create and identify the necessary benchmarks (контрольные показатели).
In our opinion, a dignified and promising future for the second half of the 21st century would be guaranteed by a free and united Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
Europe is the cradle of humanism as a global idea that is common to humanity, the cradle of democracy and human rights.
The objective facing Europe is to resolve the complex issue of its lag (отставание) behind in current politics and modern technologies and to elevate humanism to a new qualitative level — the underlying principle of European culture and European socio-political thinking.
It is clear that Europe can only become an independent global centre in the current environment if it is reinforced by a principally new quality.
I am referring here to a concept that is extremely contradictory and is to a large extent unacceptable today — the common language and even topic of whatever union of Europe with Russia. However, I do not mean that this means doing a favour or service to Russia. In our opinion, this union is the only option that provide (обеспечит) the preservation of both — European countries and Russia. If this doesn’t happen, chaos on all sides, collapse and nuclear war, represent one possible outcome.
Such civilisation based historical reality is beyond the control of bureaucrats and temporary political figures. Awareness and use of this reality will make it possible to take steps towards the future, to the promise of a Big and New Europe — from Lisbon to Vladivostok. It may take 20-30 years to reach this destination.
At the same time, however, this is the only strategy which will make it possible to preserve Europe, new sovereign states — Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Russia as well. And thereby to become a realistic economic, political and military competitor to China, the United States of America, other subjects of the multipolar world in the second half of this century.
It goes without saying that it will prove extremely hard to integrate Russia in the common European project on an equal footing, given the country’s history in the 20th century and the first three decades of the 21st century, the absolute failure of the post-Soviet economic and political reforms, in view of its current authoritarian-corporate system, the boundless tragedy regarding Ukraine, as well as the country’s size and the scale of its resources. It will take decades to reformat and relaunch new profound and powerful reforms, craft an integration policy and create new forms and the underlying principles of the union.
The task of advancing towards such a construct from the current situation will prove exceptionally difficult, but it would appear that there is no alternative. I could try to explain why, but that is a separate conversation entirely.
Conclusion: Window of opportunity
However, there comes up a special moment when the break-up of the previous global order will require the informed making up of the foundations of a new world.
The countries, statesmen and political individuals who are aware (осознают) of this fact and are proactive, relying specifically on such a vision of the future, will be able to play leading roles in the new world — not in terms of the sizes of their countries or the volumes of their natural resources, but instead thanks to their ability to think strategically and understand a future where human values take centre stage.
And that is the reason why we do not merely have an opportunity, but are also morally bound to speak out this very moment about issues perceived by the overwhelming majority of politicians as impossible or unacceptable in the current environment. And this should be the objective today — this means not only and not so much talking about developments and depressing forecasts, but instead looking for a way towards a dignified future.
A return to this level of the discussion cannot be postponed “until a later date” or “after the war”, because the actual fact of withdrawal from the war in the modern world will prove problematic if the public debate in Europe becomes linked with the narratives and models of the First and Second World Wars. For in this case it will transpire that the entire experience of post-war Europe, the construction of the European Union, its diplomacy and politics, with their focus on “soft power”, is not requested.
We need to embark on the path to the future after understanding and overcoming the past. Knowing and understanding the past is indeed essential. At the same time, the past should not become an obstacle that impedes attempts to advance towards the future.
There is an alternative to the deadlock that we are witnessing today: mankind has constantly been confronted with a choice between different turning points and crossroads when the competence of leaders to understand an alternative path leading to positive change has played a key role. Moreover, the ability to accept an alternative direction of history has always been particularly important during those transitional periods when the future seemed uncertain and frequently caused fear and horror.
The following are the key questions: what should be the basis for building the future and what should serve as the foundation of future relations?
And that is why the only alternative to sleepwalking our way to catastrophe, and instead taking real steps to extricate ourselves from the chaos and embarking on the move towards a new era requires us to answer the questions of how and where we want to go.
Thank you for your kind attention.
