Russian Roulette

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Heather sits down Rebecca Hersman, Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues (or PONI), and Senior Adviser, International Security Program at CSIS, and Dmitry Stefanovich, Research Fellow at the Center for International Security, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO RAS) in Moscow.  They discuss the reasons why the Biden and Putin administrations are extending the last remaining U.S.-Russian arms control agreement, the New START treaty; the treaty’s importance; and the prospects for addressing new weapon systems and capabilities in a future agreement. The New START Treaty is also discussed as a pillar of a future, global and multilateral arms control and nuclear nonproliferation negotiating framework.  You can find Rebecca’s bio here: https://www.csis.org/people/rebecca-hersman and follow her on Twitter: @rebeccahersman  Dmitry’s bio: https://www.imemo.ru/en/about/persons/department/full?id=2228 and Twitter handle: @KomissarWhipla  Stay safe and healthy. 

In this last Russian Roulette episode of the year, Heather sits down with Ambassador John J. Sullivan, the U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation and former Deputy Secretary of State. They discuss the highlights (the power of hockey diplomacy) and low points (the imprisonment of Paul Whelan) of his tenure as Ambassador, why there wasn’t a New START extension this year, as well as the impact of the changes to the Russian constitution, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and the foreign agent law on American interests. Finally, they also discuss the internal political dynamics in Russia in the lead up to next year’s Duma elections.  Ambassador Sullivan’s bio can be found here: https://ru.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/We gladly say farewell to 2020 and wish our listeners healthy and happy holidays. We have many exciting projects and conversations planned for 2021, so please keep an eye out for our announcements by subscribing to our mailing lists and following us on @CSISRussia and @CSISEurope.Thank you again for listening. Happy New Year! С наступающим 2021 годом!

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Heather and Cyrus Newlin, associate fellow with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program, sit down with Masha Lipman, Senior Associate at the Institute of European, Eurasian and Russian Studies at George Washington University, Ben Noble, Assistant Professor in Russian Politics at the University College in London and Senior Research Fellow at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow, to discuss the outcome of the September 13 elections in Russia and what they portend for next year’s high stakes Duma election.This episode assesses the success of Alexey Navalny’s “Smart Voting” strategy and what his poisoning meant to opposition forces in Russia. Experts also discuss the “menu of manipulation” deployed by the Kremlin during the election for nearly 9,000 municipal or regional seats and 18 governors and describe different levels of political competition across Russia. Although Putin’s popularity is once again on the rise, the dramatic change of the Kremlin’s policy toward Navalny speaks to its concern about securing victory for the United Russia Party in the future. Finally, they discussed the attitudes of the youth in Russia towards politics and how they will shape Russia’s future.You can find Ben’s bio here: https://www.ben-noble.com/, and follow him on Twitter: @Ben_H_NobleCyrus’s: https://www.csis.org/people/cyrus-newlinWe encourage you to listen to Maria Lipman’s insightful conversations on the PONARS Eurasia podcast on Russia and Eurasia: https://blubrry.com/ponars/Stay safe and healthy.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Heather sits down with Hannah Alberts, analyst with U.S. European Command based in the United Kingdom, and Jade McGlynn, researcher and lecturer at the University of Oxford.They were participants in CSIS’s Understanding the Russian Military Today, a five-day, professional development program that explored the elements of Russian military power, including its composition and prospects, social and historical foundations, doctrine, and current operations. As a final exercise, participants were tasked with developing short, independent research papers that explored one of four major themes: Russian society, strategy, and history; elements of Russian military power; recent uses of Russian military power; and resources behind Russian military power.Hannah and Jade discussed their papers, both of which focus on how Russia instrumentalizes history and culture at home as well as abroad to serve a political or military purpose.You can find Hannah’s paper here: https://www.csis.org/blogs/post-soviet-post/next-generation-fightersJade’s: https://www.csis.org/blogs/post-soviet-post/constructing-memory-alliancesYou can also follow Jade on Twitter: @jademcglynn122You can find papers written by other participants here: https://www.csis.org/programs/russia-and-eurasia-program/understanding-russian-military-todayStay safe and healthy.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Heather sits down with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, and David J. Kramer, Senior Fellow in the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy at the Florida International University to discuss the current situation in Belarus, the implications of the Lukashenko regime’s brutal response to peaceful protests, the prospect for future free and fair elections, the role of Russia in the crisis and the policy responses from the E.U and U.S.The Minister’s bio can be found here: https://www.urm.lt/default/en/officials/ministrasYou can follow him on Twitter: @LinkeviciusL David Kramer’s bio is here: https://sipa.fiu.edu/people/senior-fellows/profiles/davidj.kramer.htmlStay safe and healthy.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Heather Conley sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Mankoff and Tabea Wilke to discuss elements of Jeff’s report “With Friends Like These: Assessing Russian Influence in Germany.” This report is the Germany case study of an ambitious year-long CSIS initiative to analyze Russian influence activities in the United Kingdom and Germany and Chinese influence activities in Japan and Australia.Jeff’s biography can be found here: https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/Biographies/Article-View/Article/2142394/mankoff-jeffrey/Tabea’s here: http://tabeawilke.de/about/The report can be read on the CSIS website: https://www.csis.org/analysis/friends-these-assessing-russian-influence-germany As for the other reports on Russian influence in the United Kingdom and Chinese influence in Japan and Australia, you can find them on the project webpage: https://www.csis.org/programs/europe-program/countering-russian-chinese-influence-activitiesYou can find Dr. Amy Searight discussing Chinese influence in Australia on the Asia Chessboard podcast here: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/asia-chessboard/hidden-moves-countering-russian-and-chinese-influence-activities-chessboardStay safe and healthy.

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Andreas Turunen and Joe Cheravitch to discuss the Russian military's electronic and psychological operations, and the roles they play in Russian doctrine and strategy. Andreas and Joe contributed chapters to the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program's report "Improvisation and Adaptability in the Russian Military." Andreas’s biography can be found here: http://www.conflictstudies.org.uk/current-work.php The report can be read on the CSIS website: https://www.csis.org/analysis/improvisation-and-adaptability-russian-militaryYou can find Part 1 of the conversation with the other authors here: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/russian-roulette/improvisation-and-adaptability-russian-military-part-i-russian-rouletteStay safe and healthy!

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff sits down with Stephen Blank, Michael Petersen, and Samuel Bendett to discuss the Russian military's developing operational concepts and capabilities, and what they mean for the United States and its Allies. Steve, Mike, and Sam contributed chapters to the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program's recent report "Improvisation and Adaptability in the Russian Military." Their biographies can be found here: Stephen’s: https://www.fpri.org/contributor/stephen-blank/, Michael’s: https://usnwc.edu/Faculty-and-Departments/Directory/Michael-Petersen, and Sam’s: https://www.cna.org/experts/Bendett_S The report can be found here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/improvisation-and-adaptability-russian-military You can follow Sam and Michael on Twitter: @SamBendett, @Mi_Petersen38 We thank the Russia Strategic Initiative, U.S. European Command, for their interest and support for the project. Stay safe and prosper.  

In this episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff is joined by Judy Twigg, Professor of Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University and a Senior Associate with the CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program. They discuss the COVID19 outbreak in Russia and how well the government and the public health system are coping with this challenge. Judy also mentions the situation in Ukraine, so keep listening for that, too.   You can find Judy Twigg’s bio and selected work here: https://politicalscience.vcu.edu/people/faculty/twigg.html, and follow her on Twitter: @jtwigg9 Her previous appearance on Russian Roulette discussing a co-authored report “Putin and Global Health: Friend or Foe?" can be found on our website: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/russian-roulette/putin-and-global-health-friend-or-foe-russian-roulette-episode-91. Judy’s recent publications on COVID19 and Russia can be accessed: https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/russias-not-ready-coronavirus and https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/what-lies-behind-russias-coronavirus-containment-effort.   Stay safe and prosper.

In this 100 episode of Russian Roulette, Jeff is joined by Torokul Doorov, the Director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh Service, and Aigerim Toleukhanova, digital editor with RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service. They discuss the coronavirus outbreak in Central Asia and what its implications are for regional politics, economics, society, and more.   You can find Torokul and Aigerim’s bios here: https://pressroom.rferl.org/experts   Both are also avid Twitter users, so consider following them @Torokul and @aygeryma   We thank all our listeners for their support—we couldn’t have reached episode #100 without you. Stay safe and prosper.