KennanX

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan joins Jill Dougherty following an ambassadorship during one of the most tumultuous periods of U.S.-Russia relations to provide his perspective on the current relationship and Russia's troubling diplomatic strategies. Their discussion also touches on the domestic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Kremlin's changing relationship with Evgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group. For more information, visit our website: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/audio/kennanx-episode-25-russia-serious-about-diplomacy-amb-john-sullivan

Russian independent news channel TV Rain (Dozhd TV) has been operating in Latvia since June 2022, after Kremlin authorities blocked the channel as a result of its coverage of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now TV Rain’s operation is once again in peril after on-air remarks from one of its anchors resulted in the channel losing its Latvian broadcasting license. TV Rain news director and anchor Ekaterina Kotrikadze joins Jill Dougherty to discuss these challenges and what they mean for the future of the channel.

Jill Dougherty is joined by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse to discuss how corruption serves not only to enrich the elites of Russia, but also as tool to ensure continuity of power and that all opposition—both internal and external—is crushed. Senator Whitehouse also explains how this corruption directly targets the United States and the steps the government is taking to combat this this threat.

Host Jill Dougherty shares the second part of her conversations with Russian journalists — both those now in exile and those who remain in the country — about how their lives have changed after the Kremlin’s crackdown on independent media and full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She is joined by Sergey Parkhomenko, Russian journalist and Kennan Senior Advisor; Tatiana Felgenhauer and Alexander (Sasha) Plyushchev, independent journalists and former anchors for Echo Moscow Radio; Kirill Martynov, Political Editor, Novaya Gazeta Europe; Roman Dobrokhotov, Founder, The Insider; and Yevgenia Albats, Editor-in-Chief & CEO, The New Times.

Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February, hundreds of journalists have left their country because they felt threatened by the Kremlin's crackdown on free speech. In the latest KennanX, Jill Dougherty presents the first in a two-part series profiling Russian journalists who have fled. She is joined by The Insider Founder Roman Dobrokhotov and Riddle Russia Co-Founder Anton Barbashin as they discuss how the war in Ukraine has affected their coverage, how to report investigative journalism in a country dominated by censorship and propaganda, and why they continue to stay connected to Russia despite it all.

Host Jill Dougherty has a special announcement about the future of the KennanX podcast. Plus, we’re sharing a recent conversation between Wilson Center President Mark Green and Baroness Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, about the impact that Russia’s war in Ukraine is having on Europe and the role of Vladimir Putin. We’ll be back with new KennanX episodes in April 2022!

The standoff at the Russia-Ukraine border has reached a boiling point following the Biden and Putin video conference. Moscow is demanding major revisions to European security. In this episode of KennanX, Ambassador John Tefft – former ambassador to Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Lithuania – joins Jill to discuss Putin’s red lines and what they mean.

Political discourse in Russia and the post-Soviet space is rife with conspiracy theories, as well as politicians who utilize them to gain an upper hand. On this episode of KennanX, Scott Radnitz, author of Revealing Schemes: The Politics of Conspiracy in Russia and the Post-Soviet Region, joins Jill to discuss the politics driving conspiracies in the region.

With echoes of the Soviet retreat, the last American plane left Afghanistan on August 31, 2021 following two decades of war. How do the legacies of the Soviet and American occupations compare, and what does the future hold for Russian-Afghan relations with the Taliban now in charge? Our host Jill Dougherty is joined by Michael Kugelman and others for a conversation on Afghanistan and the role Russia is poised to play.

It’s been nearly one year since Alexander Lukashenko declared victory over Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in an election rife with fraud. In this episode of KennanX, our host Jill Dougherty is joined by Ms. Tikhanovskaya for a conversation about her campaign for President of Belarus, the fallout from the election, what motivates her to stay in the fight, and the outcome of her recent trip to Washington, DC.