| Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum | |
| Formation: | 2009 |
| Type: | Forum |
| Headquarters: | Yaroslavl |
Yaroslavl Global Policy Forum was a series of high-level conferences organized in Yaroslavl, Russia, during the term of Dmitry Medvedev as President of the Russian Federation.[1] The forum, which targeted foreign experts, was established in 2009 by Medvedev, who determined that Valdai Discussion Club was too closely linked to Vladimir Putin.[2] The Yaroslavl Forum was organized around Medvedev's birthday, which occurred around the same time as Putin's Valdai conference.[3]
Medvedev gave significant speeches at the forum, including a speech at the September 2010 forum (entitled "The Modern State: Standards of Democracy and Criteria of Efficiency"),[4] in which Medvedev "told a large audience of academics, politicians, and economists ... that parliamentary democracy would provide a 'catastrophe' for Russia" by leading to social upheaval and turmoil.[5] Among the notable persons who attended the forums were Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and American Nobel laureate economic Paul Krugman,[1] and Michael McFaul.[6] The conferences were "largely presented as the Russian equivalent of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos."[1] However, as Medvedev's influence waned, the Global Policy Forum "soon exhausted its potential ... and became nearly forgotten."[1]