Russian Roulette

On this election day 2018, Jeff sits down with Elizabeth Rosenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for New American Security (CNAS) for a sanctions-themed episode of Russian Roulette. They discuss the strategy and evolution of the Russia sanctions program, what effects sanctions have had on the economy and politics of Russia, the risks to the United States of over-relying on sanctions, and how Russia sanctions factor into U.S. domestic politics in 2018 and beyond.   You can view Elizabeth’s bio and recent publications, here: https://www.cnas.org/people/elizabeth-rosenberg   Having trouble navigating the web of U.S. sanctions against Russia? We organized them for you. Check out the CSIS Russia Sanctions Tracker @ https://russiasanctionstracker.csis.org/   As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.  

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Marlene Laruelle, a research professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, associate director of the Institute for Europe, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, and co-director of PONARS (Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia). Not least, Marlene is editor of the forthcoming collected volume Entangled Far Rights: A Russian-European Intellectual Romance in the Twentieth Century (November 6, 2018: University of Pittsburgh Press). They discuss the genesis and evolution of European-Russian far right connections, how Russia does and doesn’t influence the European far right today, and, shifting to a debate in the Eurasia academic community, the use of the term “fascist” to describe contemporary Russia. You can view Marlene’s bio and recent publications, here: https://elliott.gwu.edu/marlene-laruelle We encourage you to preorder her edited volume, here: https://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Far-Rights-Russian-European-Intellectual/dp/0822965658 As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.  

In this episode, Olya and Jeff sit down with Sam Charap, a senior political scientist at RAND Corp and coauthor of the recent RAND report “Rethinking the Regional Order for Post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia,” which explores solutions to the dilemma of mutually exclusive Russian and Western integration paths for six “in between” countries: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. We discuss the report’s findings and the viability of this third path to European security, as well as U.S.-Russia relations, Ukraine’s future, and European security writ large.   You can view Sam’s bio and recent publications, here: https://www.rand.org/about/people/c/charap_samuel.html#overview   And you can read the report, here: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE297.html and Sam’s book on the Ukraine crisis, co-authored with Timothy Colton, here: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781138633087   As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Marina Litvinenko, an activist, campaigner, and the widow of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian dissident poisoned in London by agents of the Russian government in 2006. They discuss Marina’s campaign to raise awareness about the Russian government’s illicit activity abroad, continuities between her husband’s case and the recent Skripal poisonings in Salisbury, Russian state propaganda, and more. Then, Olya and Jeff answer some mailbag questions from our esteemed Russian Roulette listeners. For an account of Alexander Litvinenko’s activities as a whistleblower and his subsequent murder, we encourage you to read Death of a Dissident, coauthored by Marina Litvinenko and Alex Goldfarb. You can read more about Marina and Alex’s legal campaign against Russian state propaganda, here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/06/alexander-litvinenko-alex-goldfarb-sues-russian-tv-channels-for-libels As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.    

In this episode, Olya and Jeff sit down with Evgeniya Chirikova, a Russian environmental activist who got her start organizing opposition to a planned highway project that would destroy swathes of the federally-protected Khimki forest near Moscow. Our discussion of her efforts to save Khimki forest spills into a broader one about grassroots activism in Russia, its lessons, and its prospects. You can read more about Evgeniya’s career, work and activism, here: https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/evgenia-chirikova/ Check out Evgeniya’s website and project, Activatica, here: http://activatica.org/. Activatica is a digital communication platform that aims to build a network of activists in Russia around the word. As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode, Olga and Jeff sit down with Brian Taylor to talk about his new book, The Code of Putinism. Brian is a professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and his book provides a framework for thinking about Russian domestic and foreign policy. This podcast is a companion to the book launch CSIS hosted for The Code of Putinism, so we strongly recommend you check out both. The book launch discussion, which also featured Stephen Hanson, Vice Provost for International Affairs at William and Marry College, is available here: https://www.csis.org/events/code-putinism-book-launch-event You can view Brian’s bio and other publications, here: https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/psc/Taylor,_Brian/ If you would like to purchase The Code of Putinism, it is available in many fine bookstores. If you prefer your books delivered to your door, Olya asks that you consider an independent seller: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780190867324 As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.  

In this episode, Olya and Jeff sit down with Bill Courtney for a complete tour d’Eurasie. Bill is an adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation and a former career foreign service officer. He served as ambassador to Georgia, Kazakhstan, and the U.S.-Soviet Bilateral Consultative Commission, and covered Russia and Eurasia on the NSC. We discuss the Russian economy, from taxi drivers and pension reform to sanctions and business conditions, and recent developments in Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Armenia. At 3:34, Olya erroneously states that the minimum retirement age for women in Russia is being raised to 60. It is being raised to 63. At 34:20 Jeff mentions the evolution of the term “Eastern Europe.” For context, we recommend you read Timothy Garten Ash’s article on the topic, here: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1986/10/09/does-central-europe-exist/. You can view Bill’s (illustrious) bio and read his recent publications, here: https://www.rand.org/about/people/c/courtney_william.html. As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode, Jeff sits down with Seth G. Jones, director of the Transnational Threats Project and a senior adviser to the International Security Program at CSIS, to discuss Seth’s forthcoming book, A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland, and the legacy of Cold War political warfare. You can view Seth’s bio and recent publications, here: https://www.csis.org/people/seth-g-jones. We encourage you to pre-order his book, here: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294995524. As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

Jeff and Jeff take center stage in our sixty-first episode of Russian Roulette. Jeff Mankoff sits down with Jeff Rathke, senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS to discuss major takeaways from the most recent NATO summit, as well as the upcoming (at the time of recording) Trump-Putin bilateral meeting. Then, Jeff Mankoff tackles new mailbag questions, with some help from Research Associate and Producer, Cyrus Newlin. You can view Jeff Rathke’s bio and publications, here: https://www.csis.org/people/jeffrey-rathke. For more summitry, be sure to catch his appearance on our sister podcast, The Readout, here: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/readout. As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, we sit down with Andrey Baklitskiy. Andrey is a consultant with the PIR Center in Moscow who writes and speaks on arms control and nonproliferation issues. We discuss Russian approaches to nonproliferation, Iran and North Korea, the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the future of arms control. You can read Andrey’s bio and some of his recent articles here: http://www.pircenter.org/en/experts/25-2147658. Olya and Andrey’s recently coauthored article, “The Nuclear Posture Review and Russian ‘De-Escalation:’ A Dangerous Solution to a Nonexistent Problem,” is available for you to read, here: https://warontherocks.com/2018/02/nuclear-posture-review-russian-de-escalation-dangerous-solution-nonexistent-problem/. We encourage you to read the final report and discussion papers from our U.S.-Russia Crisis Stability dialogue here: https://www.csis.org/programs/russia-and-eurasia-program/us-russia-crisis-stability-results-track-ii-dialogue. You can watch Olya, Andrey, and Sharon Squassoni of George Washington University discuss the results of that dialogue here: https://www.csis.org/events/us-russia-crisis-stability-results-strategic-dialogue. As always, keep sending us mailbag questions! If you would like to have your question answered on the podcast, send it to us! Email rep@csis.org and put “Russian Roulette” in the subject line. And, if you have one, include your Twitter handle, so we can notify you publicly when we answer your question (or, if you don’t want us to, tell us that). We look forward to hearing from you.