This year's meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club opened on Wednesday onboard the Kronstadt cruise ship with a discussion on whether Russians are inclined to authoritarian rule.
This year's talks, headlined "Russia: History and Future Development," began with a fierce debate on whether the future of Russia is historically predetermined by a number of constant factors, including the strong tradition of absolute rule as the only means to deal with the state's strategic tasks.
The discussion brought together prominent experts on Russia from 15 European countries, the United States and Asia. Some of them argued that Russian people tend to show a so-called "historical fatalism," or unwillingness to press for changes and belief that "it would only get worse".
Others said that Russian people "are for democracy, but against anarchy".
However, most experts agreed that though authoritarian moods are traditionally rooted in Russian society, there was still an opportunity for democratic change.
RIA Novosti
